Fallen Dove 3
by Ravenblackdove
Summary: The stunning conclusion to the Fallen Dove series. See how it all ends and learn the secrets of Raven and the notorious Pitch


"As of now, you are all Black Doves.", Devin said with pride in his voice. "You've built this establishment with your own hard work and you've endured the extremely intense training required to become members of your elite status. Now go use your new skills and make this universe a safer place. Dismissed."

Devin sighed as he sat down in the cockpit of his ship. He was proud of himself and of all of his students. He just hoped he did as well as Raven had when he was still teaching. But all in all, it was one hell of an accomplishment, and now he was ready to go back to Earth. He smiled. Sasami would certainly be surprised when he got there. He wondered what she would look like now. Well, it wouldn't be long before he could see for himself. He fired up the engines and took off into space. 

"Come on, Ryoko!", Raven shouted aggressively. "You're never going to catch me like that!"

Raven flew through the air on his hover bike that Washu had made to his specifications. Ryoko was flying fast, trying to catch up to him. Raven was flying low to the ground, Ryoko was behind and above him. Determination was in her eyes as she pushed herself to go a little faster. Raven dodged a single tree and a couple of bushes in the otherwise empty field. He reached down to his belt and pulled out his plasma pistol, aiming it behind him and firing shots at Ryoko. Ryoko's eyes widened and she instinctively dodged the shots. She quickly descended and flew extremely close to the ground. She was so close, she could feel the grass hit her every so often. It was harder for Raven to hit her down there. She formed two balls of energy, one on either side of her head, and launched them at Raven. Raven heard them coming and quickly dodged them. They screamed past him like two missiles from behind. Raven pulled up hard and ascended into the sky. Ryoko stayed low and turned to face the sky, still on course. She formed a couple more balls in her hands and threw them into the sky. Raven saw them from high above and fired a single shot at each of them, blowing them out of the sky, and continued to fire at Ryoko. Ryoko stopped short as Raven's blasts impacted into the ground ahead of her. She launched herself into the sky and stayed a good distance from her target, making it harder for him to blast her. Raven fired a shot and Ryoko turned to her side a little, letting the blast fly by. 

"What are you doing way over there?", Raven shouted. "You couldn't possibly hit me from there!"

Raven stopped, realizing what she had done. He quickly spun his body around and fired two shots behind him. The first two energy blasts she had thrown at him had gotten out of sight and made their way behind him. Raven's shots collided with them and blew them away just in time. One second later and he would have been toast. He turned back to Ryoko who had taken the opportunity presented by Raven's distraction to get in close. Raven's eyes widened with surprise as she flew up in his face and was about to knock him off of his bike when he pushed himself up, putting his feet on the seat, and jumped up with a well placed and very powerful kick to Ryoko's jaw, knocking her backward and sending her spiralling down toward the earth. Raven had realized that he put too much force in the kick and Ryoko was unconscious. Without a moment's hesitation, he regained control of the bike and shot into motion. He rocketed almost straight down, speeding up as fast as he could. The ground was getting closer and closer. He started to pull up hard and swooped down, grabbing Ryoko as he flew by, coming so close to the ground that the bottom of the bike just barely grazed the dirt for a second. 

Raven gently rubbed a wet towel across Ryoko's forehead. She lay in her bed and he sat beside her. Ryoko slowly opened her eyes and looked up at Raven. He smiled at her and she realized where she was and began to remember what had happened. She moaned and closed her eyes again. 

"Why couldn't you have had strength like that when you fought Neko?", She asked, her exhaustion apparent in her voice. 

"You know, I'm really not sure.", he replied, a little perplexed himself. "I just didn't feel like my normal self then. I guess I was still beat up from what I had gone through. My fight with Pitch and the crash and all that. It must have taken a lot out of me."

"Not to mention you're always waking up in the middle of the night.", Ryoko said.

"Well thanks for reminding me.", Raven said. "I try not to think about that when I don't have to."

Ryoko opened her eyes and looked up at Raven. She saw his smile and his always so calm expression, but she knew it was only on the outside. She had come to know him well enough to see through it. He had really been hurt when she brought up his nightmares. He was hiding it so she wouldn't feel bad. Normally she wouldn't care, but she really cared about him. She could only think of one other person she felt this way about, but that was history. Tenchi and Ayeka had really hit it off. They were a happy couple, always smiling at each other and going off alone. Hell, now they were even sleeping together. There were a couple of times when Ryoko couldn't contain herself and just had to check in on them. She would listen at the door for any kind of sound, but everything was always quiet. They obviously weren't doing anything in there but sleeping. But that was enough to send Ryoko to her little hiding place on the edge of the roof. She thought about how it felt every time she saw them together. That was how Raven felt right now, thinking about Taesia. And she had caused it. 

"Raven.", Ryoko said. "I'm sorry."

Raven shook his head. "Don't worry about it, Ryoko. Just get better, ok?"

Washu sat in her hovering chair, busy at work in her lab. She had been there all day, typing in all kinds of data and figuring it into all kinds of equations. Of course, she did this everyday. She heard a knock at her door and answered without even taking her eyes off of her lap top or stopping her fingers from typing. 

"Come in!", she called back.

The door opened and Raven walked in. He walked over to Washu and stood beside her. 

"Hi, Washu.", he greeted her. 

Washu stopped her work and looked up at him. "Oh, Raven. What can I do for ya."

"I need you to analyze me and tell me what you find.", he said. 

"That's kind of vague.", Washu said. "Anything in particular you're looking for?"

"I wasn't at my best when I was fighting with Neko.", Raven explained. "It was like I was still worn out from the crash and a fight I had before that, but that was months before he arrived. It doesn't make sense."

"I see.", Washu said. "That is strange. Ok, you got it."

Washu turned back to her lap top and began to type in commands. 

"Oh.", She said. "You wanna know why Neko never got tired?"

"Sure.", Raven answered. 

"I was looking over the data from the fight and I found out something very interesting about him.", she explained. "It turns out he wasn't human. He was an android."

"An android, huh?", Raven said. "Well, that explains a lot."

"It sure does.", Washu said turning back to him. 

A wrist band appeared out of nowhere and Washu took it out of the air and handed it to Raven. 

"Now put this on and don't take it off until I tell you.", she instructed. 

"Thanks, Washu.", Raven said as he put the wrist band on.

"Oh, by the way.", Washu folded her hands and leaned back in her chair. "You haven't by any chance seen some changes in Ryoko's behavior have you?"

"Actually yes.", Raven said. "I haven't really thought about it, but she is acting a little different now isn't she."

"Only around you, Raven.", Washu looked up at him with serious eyes. 

"I don't understand.", he shook his head. 

"I don't normally get involved in this kind of thing but she's been so upset about Tenchi lately that I have to do something to cheer her up. It's a mom thing, you understand.", Washu explained. "So here it is. My little Ryoko is in love with you."

She could see Raven's expression change to one of surprise. He wasn't exactly sure of what to say. 

"She doesn't know I'm telling you this so don't give it away, but I want you to understand something.", Washu continued. 

"What?", Raven asked. 

"Ryoko is very precious to me.", Washu explained. "She isn't just another experiment, she's my daughter. Now, she may seem tough on the outside, but she's a lot more sensitive than you think. I want you to be careful with her. This would normally be the part where I threaten to turn you into a platypus if you don't, but I know that isn't necessary with you, is it."

"I'll do everything I can to make her happy.", Raven said. 

"I know you will.", Washu smiled. "Because you feel the same way. I've known that for a while as well."

"Thank you, Washu.", Raven said. 

Washu simply smiled.

The retro rockets fired and Devin's ship slowly began to descend into Earth's atmosphere. He looked over his control boards and readouts. Everything appeared in order. He smiled. For once he was landing on Earth instead of crashing. After a short time the carrot fields began to come into view beneath him. Shortly following after that he could see Tenchi working in them. Tenchi looked up from his labor and waved. The ship eased onto the ground and settled. The engines powered down and the hatch opened. Devin stepped out and breathed the fresh Earthen air. He smiled. Tenchi started to walk over to him, smiling. 

"Welcome back, Devin.", Tenchi said. 

"Thanks, Tenchi.", Devin smiled. "It's been a long trip."

"Well you're just in time for lunch.", Tenchi said. "I'm afraid it won't be as good as you're used to, because Sasami didn't know you were coming, but it's always delicious anyway."

"That's ok.", Devin laughed. "I wanted to surprise her anyway. That's why I landed here instead of by the house."

"Oh, I see.", Tenchi nodded. "Well let me get the carrots and we can walk home together."

Devin and Tenchi walked along the road, Tenchi with a basket of carrots on his back. 

"A lot has happened since you left.", Tenchi spoke up.

"Like what?", Devin asked. 

"Well, we've had a couple more visitors.", Tenchi said. "I think you know one of them."

"Really?", Devin looked surprised. "Who?"

"Raven.", Tenchi said. 

Devin's eyes widened and he stopped. "Raven? As in Raven Dove, the original Black Dove?"

"Yeah, that's him.", Tenchi nodded and they started walking again. "He's living with us now. He built his own little house out next to ours."

"So who's the other visitor?", Devin asked. "Is he staying too?"

"No, he's dead.", Tenchi explained. "He attacked us looking for Raven."

"Oh.", Devin said. "Is everyone alright?"

"Everyone except for Grampa.", Tenchi said. "Neko killed him."

"Oh.", Devin said. "I'm sorry."

"It's ok.", Tenchi shook his head. "I'm looking after the shrine now, in his place. Anyway, let's forget about that. We're almost there."

"Lunch is ready!", Sasami shouted out through the sliding glass doors. "Come and get it!"

"Well if you insist!", a familiar voice called out from around the corner. 

Sasami stepped out and looked to see who had said it. Her eyes got wide and her mouth grew into a big smile. 

"Devin!", she shouted and ran as fast as she could toward him. 

Devin smiled and caught her in his arms as jumped up at him. The force of her jump knocked Devin over and she went with him. She held him ever so tightly, her cheek next to his.

"Oh, Devin I missed you so much!", She said. "I can't believe you're really here." She pulled her face away and gave him a disappointed look. "You should have called us or something. I would have made a special welcome home lunch for you."

Devin laughed. "Well, I wanted it to be a surprise."

Sasami smiled. "It worked. I was sure surprised."

"Wow!", Mihoshi said from over by the glass doors. "Devin, you're back. I didn't expect to see you around here yet."

"Neither did Sasami, as you can see.", Devin smiled. 

Ayeka walked around from behind the house, curiously. "What's all this commotion.", her eyes got wide as she saw what it was. "Devin! What a surprise! Welcome home!"

"Thanks.", Devin said. He looked up at Sasami. "Do you think I can get up now?", he said with a playful smile. 

"No.", She said. "I wanna stay like this forever."

Suddenly and explosion came from over by the trees. Devin rolled over and put Sasami down, quickly getting to his feet and facing where the explosion came from. He couldn't see anything yet, but he could hear something moving around in the woods. Suddenly, Ryoko burst out from the trees, wearing her red and black combat suit. She stopped and quickly turned back toward the woods, forming an energy ball as she turned and throwing it into the trees as soon as they were in sight. Raven ran out from the forest and immediately jumped over the blast, landing in a somersault as it exploded behind him. He had a pistol in each hand, both extended, and he fired them at Ryoko. Ryoko held out her hands and the shots crashed into an energy force field. Ryoko's hands followed the shots half way back as they traveled around the spherical force field and made their way back around to the front. As they got halfway to the front, Ryoko's arms moved forward with them as though she were launching them from her hands and the shots screamed back at Raven. Raven slid on his heels and his feet fell forward out from under him. He landed in a sitting position and the shots flew over his head. He fired two more times. Ryoko held her hands out again, but this time the first shots just crashed into the field and exploded. The second ones weren't stopped and slammed into Ryoko, knocking her backward and she fell onto the ground. Raven stood and put his guns away. He began to walk over to Ryoko. Ryoko moaned and slowly got to her feet. 

"Don't worry, it's just Raven and Ryoko.", Sasami said. "They always train together around this time."

"Oh.", Devin said and loosened up. "Ok."

Ryoko shook her head. "I'm no good at using that force field thing."

"That's ok.", Raven said. "It's your first day using it in a fight. You just need to get used to it."

Devin walked over to Raven. Raven turned to look at him, realizing in a moment who he was.

"Devin Mikari.", Raven smiled. "It's good to see you again."

They shook hands.

"It's good to see you too, sir.", Devin agreed.

Raven shook his head. "Forget about that sir stuff. I'm retired, remember? Besides, it sounds like you're the sir now."

"Well, I did my best.", Devin said.

Raven put his hand on Devin's shoulder and started to walk him toward the house.

"Come on.", Raven said. "You can tell me all about it during lunch."

Everyone listened attentively as Devin told them all about how he went about training the new generation of Black Doves. He went through everything from teaching them how to dodge a bullet by calculating where it would go just by hearing the shot or seeing the gun to helping them develop the specific muscles that allow them to pull off the impossible moves they use in a heated battle. He even explained how the new Doves built by hand the new Dove Station.

"Well, it sounds like you've covered everything.", Raven said. "Good job. I'm proud of you."

"Well, I had a pretty good teacher.", Devin said. 

"So, how long will you be staying before you go back?", Raven asked.

"Actually, I'm going to be living here now.", Devin said. "I took my walk when the new Doves were ready."

Sasami noticeably smiled at that. Devin waited for Raven's response, hoping he wouldn't disapprove.

"Hmm.", Raven said, going over it in his mind for a second. "Well, I'm sure it'll be good having another former Black Dove around the house, if that's ok with Tenchi of course."

"Sure.", Tenchi said. "I'd be glad to have him here."

Raven smiled. "Welcome to the family, Devin."

Devin smiled back. Sasami cheered. Washu finished what was left of her lunch and stood up.

"When you're finished, Raven, I'd like to see you in my lab please, if you don't mind.", she said. 

"I'll be there in a minute, Washu.", Raven nodded. "Now, whenever your settled in I'm sure Tenchi can show you some of the things you can do to help around the house."

"That would be great.", Devin said. 

"Well, I'm sure you'll be of a lot more help than some people I know.", Ayeka sneered. 

Ryoko looked up at her. "Hey, are you talking about me?"

"No, I was talking about some other lazy space pirate!", Ayeka shot back.

Both Ayeka and Ryoko stood up at the same time and glared at each other.

"Listen, Princess!", Ryoko said. "You got something to say, spit it out!"

"Fine, I will!", Ayeka said. "You're nothing but a lazy good for nothing freeloader and all you ever do is lay around while everyone else is busy at work trying to keep this house in good condition. Furthermore, I think you just bring an element of tension into this house hold and I for one won't take it anymore."

Raven stood up quickly and shouted with an extremely authoritative voice. "Damn it, Ayeka, sit the fuck down!"

The whole room fell silent and everybody turned in shock to look at Raven. His eyes were fixed sharply on Ayeka, who looked at him with surprise. She was completely speechless. She could see in him that he was very pissed off. He continued.

"Now, I have no doubt that you and everyone else here works hard at keeping this house clean, and I'm sure you do more than your share yourself, princess, but who the hell do you think you are, saying that Ryoko doesn't do anything around here. Just because she doesn't do what you do doesn't make her good for nothing. When this house is faced with some kind of danger, which I hear isn't that rare an occasion, who do you think is the first person to risk her life, and almost lose it every time, to protect you? This woman goes out of her way to save your life and keep you safe more often than the average Black Dove gets sent out on missions, and you call her worthless. And remember, I wasn't the one who killed Neko. Do you have any idea how much pain this girl goes through, protecting you?"

Ayeka tried frantically to think of an answer, stuttering as she tried to get something out.

"Do you?", Raven repeated more forcefully.

"Uh, no, I don't guess, um think so.", Ayeka said timidly.

"Next time some killer comes along and she saves your life for the millionth time, think about whether or not Ryoko is worthless!", Raven finished. 

Raven leaned down and picked up his plate, leaving the room to take it to the kitchen. Ayeka followed him with her eyes until he was out of the room, then looked back at Ryoko. Ryoko was just as surprised as she was, and even felt a little sorry for her. Ayeka dropped her gaze, refusing to make eye contact, as she was too embarrassed. She struggled to hold back her tears.

"I'm sorry...about all this.", she tried to say without crying. "I apologize, Ryoko. I shouldn't have said what I did."

"That's ok.", Ryoko said, still sort of in shock.

Ayeka sat down and hid her face by staring straight down. Ryoko watched her sit, then glanced at the doorway Raven had left through. Then she too took her seat.

"Oh your power level is going up alright.", Washu said, typing in commands on her lap top and bringing up charts on her viewscreens. "Since you arrived you've been getting stronger, faster, and more precise and accurate in your movements. As a matter of fact, your responses have sharpened as well."

Raven looked puzzled. "Do you have any idea what's causing it?"

"Well, like you said a few days ago, you weren't at your best when you fought Neko."

"Uh huh.", Raven went along with this.

"Not even close.", Washu continued. "And you still have a long way to go by my estimates. I was in the middle of a regular examination and I found something very interesting."

"What was that?", Raven asked.

"The reason my microwave wasn't cooking the popcorn was because it was unplugged.", Washu said. 

Raven gave her a very strange look. Then she continued.

"And, there is something feeding you energy. I did a more thorough scan and I discovered that there is actually a flow of energy coming from somewhere and it's flowing directly into you."

"Do you know where it's coming from?", Raven asked. 

"Nope.", Washu answered. "But it was originally flowing out of you. Then it was like it wanted to come back to you so it began to feed you very slowly until a few days after Neko was killed. Then it radically increased and has been continuing to increase as time goes by. Right now you are more than ten times stronger and faster than you were when you fought Neko. If you were to fight him now, he wouldn't stand a chance."

"Can you figure out where this energy is coming from?", Raven asked. 

"I'll see what I can do.", she said, her tone sounding as though she were leading up to something, like a price. "On one condition."

"What?", Raven asked. 

"Take my daughter out tonight and tell her how you feel.", Washu said.

"If you insist.", Raven said with a smile.

Devin and Sasami walked along the path leading to the street. They were on their way to the carrot field to bring Devin's ship back to the house. Sasami smiled. 

"Isn't it a beautiful day?", she asked. "It's the perfect day for you to be back."

"Well, it's good to be home.", Devin said. 

"I really missed you Devin.", Sasami said.

"I missed you too, Sasami.", Devin smiled. 

"Did you think of me while you were away?", she asked. 

"All the time.", Devin said. 

"Is it hard to train new Doves?", Sasami asked, curiously.

"Not really.", Devin answered. 

"Do you think you could teach me?", Sasami asked.

Devin looked at Sasami, puzzlement in his expression. Then he turned back to see where he was going, as they had reached the street and changed course to walk along the side of it.

"Why do you want to learn how to fight, Sasami?", Devin asked.

"I don't know.", she shrugged. "Raven and Ryoko are always training together. Neither of them knows it, but everyone knows they have a thing for each other. So I thought it might be fun if we did that."

"Sasami, you have the cutest reasons for everything.", Devin laughed.

Sasami smiled at him, as she had a habit of doing. Then Devin nodded. 

"Ok.", he said. "I'll teach you. But we'll have to start out really easy because you're so young."

"I'm already fourteen, Devin.", she commented.

"I know.", Devin continued. "That's exactly what I mean."

Devin sat in the pilot seat and ran his fingers over the control boards. The whole cockpit lit up and the stat screens showed everything normal. Sasami stood beside him, watching what he did. He turned to look at her. 

"Ok.", he said. "Your turn."

"Huh?", she looked at him with bewildered eyes. "You mean, you want me to fly?"

"Uh huh.", Devin nodded. 

"But I've never flown before.", Sasami protested.

"And you had never repaired an engine before you did it with me last time I was here, but you did a pretty good job figuring out what was wrong with it.", Devin said. "Come on, I'll show you how."

"Ok.", she said, nervously.

Sasami sat in Devin's lap and her eyes looked over what seemed to her to be an enormous control board with a million buttons and lights and numbers and-

"Ok, now the first thing you want to do is turn on the engine.", Devin explained. "This switch right here is what does that."

Sasami looked at the switch and she suddenly felt a lot more at ease. 

"Oh. I should have known.", Sasami said, and smiled, flipping the switch.

Raven walked down the hallway toward Ryoko's room. He stopped in front of her door and knocked on it.

"Ryoko.", he called. "Are you in there? It's Raven. I need to ask you something."

Suddenly, Raven sensed someone approaching from behind. He quickly spun around just in time to see Ryoko lunging at him, her arms outstretched to tackle him. He quickly grabbed her by the wrists and fell backward, bringing his foot up into her stomach and kicking her over his head. She fell hard on her back and Raven rolled backward, following her and landing on top of her. His hands were still firmly gripped around her wrists and his legs spread across her hips. Ryoko was out of breath from her landing and was breathing hard. She looked up at Raven and, realizing the position they were in, became flustered. She quickly tried to explain to take the focus off of it.

"I was trying to work on my stalking techniques.", she said. "But I guess I could use a little work on that, huh?"

"I guess we could work on that tomorrow, if you want.", Raven said, just as flustered as Ryoko.

"So, what was it you wanted to ask me?", Ryoko asked. 

"Oh.", Raven shook his head, returning to normal. "I was wondering if you'd like to go out for dinner tonight."

"But Devin's back.", Ryoko said. "That means Sasami is going to be cooking extra spe- I- I- I wouldn't mind.", she said, rethinking what she was saying originally and changing it when she looked up into his eyes.

"Good.", Raven smiled. "Then I'll meet you out by the lake in front of the house at about...eight o'clock?"

"Sounds good to me.", Ryoko nodded.

"Hmm?", Washu became very curious. "Whatever that energy is, the source is getting closer. Interesting."

"Sasami!", Ryoko called.

She was flying through the house, looking desperately for Sasami. She had only put make up on once in her life and she wanted to make sure she did it right. 

"Sasami!", she called again. 

Then she heard a loud noise coming from outside. She quickly teleported out to the back yard to see what it was. Devin's streamline, silver spaceship slowly descended to the ground and the engines whined down and shut off. After a moment, the hatch opened up and Ryoko could hear Devin and Sasami talking and laughing from inside. The two stepped out of the ship and Ryoko took that as her cue. She quickly flew over to them. 

"You did really good, Sasami.", Devin said. "Maybe one day you'll be a pilot."

"You really think so?", Sasami smiled.

"Sasami!", Ryoko quickly got her attention.

"Hi Ryoko.", Sasami said. "What is it?"

"I need your help, Sasami.", Ryoko said.

"With what?", Sasami asked, curiously.

"Well, I need you to uh, well that is, um-", Ryoko turned and looked at Devin with an angry face. "Back off! This isn't any of your business!"

"I'll meet you inside, ok, Sasami?", Devin said.

"Sure, Devin.", Sasami said. 

Devin walked away and Ryoko turned back to Sasami with desperation in her face. 

"Now what is it, Ryoko? That was really mean.", Sasami said.

"Well, Raven asked me out to dinner tonight and, well, I need you to help me get ready for it. I...I don't know how to put make up on.", she said, embarrassed as hell.

"Oh.", Sasami said, a little surprised. "I don't have time right now, I'm sorry. I have to make dinner. Maybe my sister can help you."

_Ryoko frowned and disappeared. She reappeared in the living room and looked around. Now where is that little hussy. She thought to herself. I really don't want to have to ask her for help, but it's the only thing I can think of._

The door to Washu's lab opened and Washu stepped out. She looked at Ryoko desperately searching, and shook her head and sighed. 

"Come here, little Ryoko.", she said.

Ryoko turned around and saw Washu standing next to her door with her arms folded. 

"Not now, I'm busy.", Ryoko demanded.

"You should know better, Ryoko.", Washu reprimanded. "Why would Ayeka help you if it doesn't include her own best interests?"

"Huh?", Ryoko was a little caught off guard, and then remembered Washu could read her mind. "Well what am I supposed to do, ask Mihoshi?"

"Goodness, no!", Washu stepped back in disgust at the thought of Mihoshi being responsible for making her daughter pretty, or being responsible for anything for that matter. 

"Well, Kiyone's no help either.", Ryoko went on. "She's never been very good with men."

"Ryoko.", Washu said.

"And I don't think Tenchi would be any good at it either, besides I wouldn't know how to ask him.", Ryoko continued.

"Ryoko.", Washu repeated. 

"And forget Noboyuki. He'd probably just put lipstick and a ribbon on me and then ask if he could take some pictures."

"Ryoko!", Washu shouted.

Ryoko looked up out of her ramblings and returned her attention to Washu. Washu had her eyes closed and her head tilted a little to the side and down. She still had her arms folded and looked just a little upset. Ryoko couldn't figure out why until she heard Washu's suggestion. Then she realized what she had done.

"Why don't you ask your mother?", Washu asked.

Ryoko blinked and felt a little sorry. She gazed at Washu with sincerity in her eyes.

"Mom.", she said.

Washu looked up at Ryoko. She started to feel as though she were about to cry. This had been the first time for as long as she could remember that Ryoko called her that, and meant it.

"Yes, dear?", Washu responded.

"Could you help me?", Ryoko asked.

"Why, I would love to.", Washu said.

Kiyone looked down at her Galaxy police all purpose wrist watch as it beeped, signifying an incoming transmission. Mihoshi walked over and stood beside her as she pressed the receiver button. A hologram flashed on from the watch. It was the chief of the Galaxy police. They could see people running around frantically behind him and could hear explosions in the background. 

"What's going on?", Kiyone asked.

"We're engaged with a very powerful criminal!", the chief explained. "We need immediate back up! We're calling in all units on active duty and vacation! We've got the entire fleet out here trying to contain him, but it's no use!"

"We're on our way!", Kiyone said.

"Wait!", The chief interrupted. "Officers Kiyone and Mihoshi. I wanted to call you myself because we don't know who he is or where he's coming from, but we've calculated his trajectory and he's headed in the direction of the specially protected area of the Solar system."

"Hey, that's where we are, isn't it?", Mihoshi asked. 

"Exactly.", the chief said. 

Ryoko sat passively in a chair as Washu brushed and styled her hair. She was quietly thinking about the evening to come. In the background, Ryoko could hear Washu humming softly to herself as she worked. Ryoko thought on this for a moment. 

"I didn't know you could do this kind of thing.", Ryoko said. "I thought you were just a scientist all the time."

"What, you mean girl stuff?", Washu replied, a little sarcasm in her voice. "Aside from being the greatest scientific genius in the universe, I am a woman you know."

"Hmm.", Ryoko hummed a soft acknowledgment. 

"So, what are you planning on doing tonight?", Washu asked.

"Hey! Now that's none of your business!", Ryoko shouted. "Besides, we're not even dating or anything! We're not up to that part yet!"

"I wasn't talking about that, Ryoko.", Washu said, giggling a little.

"Oh.", Ryoko blushed. "Right, well, I was just telling you so you wouldn't get worried. Yeah, that's it."

"Do you know where you're going tonight?", Washu asked. 

"No.", Ryoko said. "Raven didn't tell me. I guess it's supposed to be a surprise. Come to think of it, I don't really know what brought it up. I mean, there wasn't anything leading up to it. The only thing that was out of the ordinary was that he was getting stronger, so we talked about it and he went to see- hey! You didn't have anything to do with this, did you?"

"Of course not.", Washu said with a mischievous laugh. "What ever would I do something like tell Raven to take you out on a date for?"

"Oh, you did do it, didn't you?", Ryoko asked, disappointment in her voice.

"Oh, don't be such a whiner.", Washu said. "I asked him to take you out tonight, but I didn't ask him to like you. He did that on his own."

"Yeah, I guess you're right.", Ryoko said, returning to normal.

"Ok. All done.", Washu said. "Now take a look and tell me what you think."

Washu snapped her fingers and a mirror appeared in front of Ryoko. Ryoko stood up and looked at herself. A smile grew across her face. 

"It's beautiful.", she said. "Oh I know Raven will love it! I just know it!"

Ryoko lifted off the ground and began to fly circles in the air, twirling all the way as she laughed with joy. Then she stopped high above the ground, a thought coming to the front of her mind. She smiled and gently closed her eyes as she floated down to the ground. She turned to Washu and opened her eyes. Washu looked at her daughter, then was startled at the next thing Ryoko did. She leaned forward, and gave Washu a hug. Not too tight, but tight enough to convey her message. Washu was still in shock for a moment, then she accepted it and put her arms around her daughter. 

"Thank you, mom.", Ryoko said. 

"You're welcome, sweet heart.", Washu said, tears streaming down her face.

"Ok, I'm ready!", Ryoko almost sang as she flew into the living room. Tenchi and Ayeka walked in from upstairs, surprised at the sight of the dazzling Ryoko.

"Wow!", Tenchi said. "You look beautiful, Ryoko. What's the occasion?"

"Yes, you never wear make up, Ryoko.", Ayeka added. "Just what are you up to?"

"Nothing you need to worry that pretty little head about, princess.", Ryoko said with joy and antagonism both in her tone. "I'm just going out on a little date tonight."

"Really?", Tenchi said. "That's great."

Sasami ran into the living room, full of energy as usual.

"Dinner's ready!", she cheered, then her attention was caught by Ryoko. "Oh, wow! You look very pretty, Ryoko, did Ayeka do that for you?"

"Nope.", Ryoko said. "This goes way beyond her talents, kid."

Ayeka growled with anger. "It certainly goes beyond a filthy space pirate like you."

"So, who'd you get to do it?", Sasami asked. 

"Well, even beautiful space demons like myself have to come from somewhere.", Ryoko started. "So, I asked my mother to help me."

The whole room fell silent with surprise. Ryoko simply smiled and started to skip toward the door. 

"Wow.", Tenchi said. "I've never heard her call miss Washu that before. At least she never meant it."

The group watched Ryoko phase through the glass door and skip toward the lake. Noboyuki walked in from the other room.

"What's going on in here?", he asked. "Is dinner ready yet? Oh. Ryoko dressed up? I must be seeing things."

"Nope.", Tenchi said. "Your eyes are fine, father."

"Well, what's the occasion?", Noboyuki asked. 

"Ryoko's going on a date tonight.", Sasami said. "Isn't that sweet?"

Everyone except Tenchi and Ayeka began to filter out of the living room and into the dinning room. 

"Huh.", Tenchi said. "I never thought I would see the day when Ryoko would go out on a date with someone other than me."

"You aren't regretting anything are you, Tenchi?", Ayeka asked. 

"No, not at all.", Tenchi said. "I just never thought she would actually get over me. Well, it does seem like fun. Maybe we should go on a date some time."

"Really?", Ayeka smiled with joy at that thought. "I think that would be a great idea."

Ryoko stopped and her face turned serious. Raven was standing at the lake's edge and from where she was looking, he seemed as though he were basking in the silverish moonlight that was cast on the water. He looked out on the water, and just seemed perfectly at ease, as though there was nothing happening at all tonight, or there wasn't a problem in the universe. He was peace, and she could feel it from there. She began to feel butterflies, and was surprised by it. But then she smiled and walked up to him. Raven turned to look at her. She nearly blushed when she saw how handsome he was tonight. He wore a black suit with black swirly patterns embroidered on the chest. They looked kind of like wings spreading out. The jacket buttoned all the way to the neck and disappeared under his belt so that it didn't hang loose over his pants. There were three tiny silver chains that hung at a downward arch from the second button down to halfway across the left side of his chest where they were fastened to the fabric by a small, silver Black Dove emblem that was pinned to the jacket like a medal. The buckle was silver as well and was shaped as an outline of a diamond that was longer sideways than up and down. He smiled at her with the kind of smile that would melt a woman's heart and put her at ease as though there was nothing at all wrong in her life. She nearly lost her breath. 

"Wow.", she said. "You really look amazing."

"So do you.", he said.

Ryoko started to blush. "Where are we going?"

"Well, that's a surprise.", he said. "So, are you up for a walk?"

Raven and Ryoko walked through the woods, talking casual, friendly talk. The night air was cool and refreshing, and Ryoko was loving every second of it. She had completely forgotten about the fact that they were going somewhere, and was totally in the moment. 

"So, he looks up at me and he says, Raven, I just don't think I can do it.", Raven explained. "And I look at him with a smile and I tell him, congratulations, kid. You just did."

"Wow.", Ryoko said. "You really do have a way with your students."

They came to the end of the trees and Raven stopped, turning to face Ryoko. 

"Well, I think the key to that is that most of the time I think of them as my children rather than my students.", Raven said. 

"Do you think of me as your child?", Ryoko asked. 

Raven looked off to the side. Ryoko turned to see what he was looking at, and nearly lost her breath at the sight. They had come to the tree of Jurai. Its branches were lit up with beautiful colors that reflected into pretty designs on the gently moving water beneath it. Underneath the branches was a dimly lit blanket with a warm meal and a bottle of red wine with two crystal glasses beside it. The whole thing was topped off with two tall white candles that shed a soft light over the area. Raven held out his hand. A little flustered and very out of breath, Ryoko took it and he gently led her across the stepping stones to the little island where their blanket was set up. There they sat across from each other. Raven served her a full plate and poured her a glass of wine. She smiled across at him graciously. Then he served himself. Ryoko blushed and stared at the ground. 

"I've never done anything like this before.", she admitted.

"I used to do it all the time.", Raven said. "So, what do you think? Have I gotten pretty good at it?"

"I'm sure impressed.", she said. 

They sat there for a while, enjoying the meal and each other's company. Every now and then they would take a sip of wine. It was the first time Ryoko could remember that she was drinking in moderation. 

"So, Washu asked you to do this, huh?", Ryoko smiled.

Raven laughed softly. "Well, she did have a hand in it. But that's not why I did it."

"She's acting different these days.", Ryoko said. "Ever since the day I fought Neko, she's been acting more and more like-" Ryoko tried to think of how to finish the sentence.

"Like a mother?", Raven asked.

"Yeah.", Ryoko said. "You know, she had a baby once. I mean a real one with a husband. But he and the baby were taken from her because of their family's social status. That's why she created me. I wasn't supposed to tell anyone, but-"

"It's ok.", Raven assured her. "I understand."

They sat there silently for a moment and Ryoko took another drink of her wine. Then she changed the subject.

"So, where'd you get your suit?", she asked.

"Oh, this thing.", he said. "It's Black Dove formal wear. All Doves have one except I'm the only one with three of these chains on the Jacket. Everyone else has one. It's designed to be a hybrid, actually. It's classy enough to be formal but it's designed with combat in mind, so it looks nice without the stiffness of a tuxedo and is durable enough for the kind of things a Black Dove does in his daily life."

"You know, you never did answer my question.", she said. "Do you think of me as one of your children?"

"Ryoko, there's something I wanted to tell you.", Raven said. "This should answer that question and maybe a few more you might have that you haven't brought up yet. I asked you out here because I wanted to tell you how I feel."

"And how is that?", Ryoko asked, her heart racing.

"I never thought I would let myself feel this way again after the last time, but- I couldn't help myself.", he looked up into her eyes. "I love you, Ryoko."

Her eyes began to sparkle as tears filled up in them and rolled down her cheeks. 

"I love you too, Raven.", she replied. 

Raven stood up and turned away from her. He walked over to the water's edge. Ryoko looked confused. She was afraid she had done something wrong. She was struggling to think of something to say to make up for whatever she did when Raven's voice interrupted her. 

"Ryoko, come here.", he said. "I want to tell you something else that I've only told one other person."

Ryoko got to her feet and walked over to him. She stood beside him and looked into his eyes as he gazed out over the water. 

"What is it?", she asked. 

"I have a name, Ryoko.", he said. "A real name, I mean. The only other person who knew that name is dead. Taken from me by Pitch. I never told anyone else."

"What about your parents?", Ryoko asked. 

"I don't remember much about ever having any.", Raven said. "But whoever made me, gave me a name before they disappeared from my life."

Raven turned to face Ryoko. His eyes were serious. She understood how important this was to him. And how much it was hurting him.

"Ryoko... my name is-"

"Shh.", she cut him off, putting her finger to his lips. "Don't. Don't say a word."

She gently leaned into him with a kiss. A kiss that lasted forever. At least it seemed like it. 

Kiyone and Mihoshi's ship flew threw the debris field. Kiyone looked in amazement as she took in what was left of the Galaxy Police fleet. 

"Man!", she said. "What on earth could have done this?"

"I don't know, but it doesn't look like someone I'd wanna meet.", Mihoshi said. 

"You got that right, Mihoshi.", Kiyone agreed. 

"So what do we do now, Kiyone?", Mihoshi asked. 

"I guess we should look for this guy.", Kiyone answered. "I'm picking up some trace energy readings. It must belong to the criminal. So wherever he is, he'll be emitting the energy like a beacon."

"Are you sure about that?", Mihoshi asked. "Maybe we should ask someone else to handle it."

"Mihoshi, we can't just let him get away with this.", Kiyone argued. "We're still Galaxy Police officers and we have a job to do. Besides, if we don't find this guy and stop him, who will?"

"Maybe Raven and Devin could help us.", Mihoshi suggested.

"Hmm.", Kiyone thought. "Well, his last known trajectory was the solar system. We can go look for him there and if we don't find him by the time we get to Earth, we can ask Raven and Devin if they could help out. Maybe we could even get the rest of the Doves out here. For once, Mihoshi, you had a good idea."

The ship turned around and accelerated back toward earth, disappearing in seconds. 

Washu's eyes widened. She ran her fingers over the keyboard of her lap top for confirmation. It came back the same. She leaped from her chair and ran for the door. It opened moments before she got to it and she burst into the living room, looking frantically around for anything out of the ordinary. She saw Tenchi and Ayeka standing outside by the lake, looking up at the stars together. Everything seemed normal, but she knew otherwise. She walked over to the glass door and slid it open. Then next thing she knew she was standing face to face with a strange man, about Raven's height. He had black hair and eyes. As a matter of fact, his eyes were totally black. His clothes matched his eyes, and left just about everything to the imagination except his head and hands. It looked exactly like what Raven was wearing tonight. He smiled at her, but it was a scary smile. He spoke.

"You know where he is, don't you?", he asked. "Raven?"

Washu screamed and took off running for the door to her lab. She knew that if she could get in there and shut the door, nothing could follow her. The man's smile disappeared and he gave chase. Washu made it through the door and tried to slam it shut behind her, but he blew it off the hinges with an energy blast from his hands before it could shut, and followed her into her lab. 

Tenchi and Ayeka turned around to see what all the commotion was. All they saw was a man in black running into Washu's lab. 

"We'd better check it out.", Tenchi said.

Washu jumped onto a floating disc and soared into the air, high above the ground. The man ran into the lab and looked up at her. He shook his head as though he were reprimanding a child and began to lift off of the ground. Washu's eyes widened at this. Then suddenly she heard an alarm throughout her lab. She looked over at her main screens. They flickered and her attacker appeared in the center with an arrow pointing to him. Her face turned to surprise. 

"That's it!", she said. 

A dimensional portal opened up behind her and she flew into it, disappearing from the lab in an instant. The man frowned, then shook his head. It would only be a matter of time before he could make up for this. Just then, Tenchi and Ayeka ran into the lab. 

"Miss Washu!", Tenchi shouted. 

The man looked down at them. Tenchi noticed him floating in the air. 

"Who are you?", Tenchi demanded. "What have you done with Washu?"

"She escaped me.", The man said. "Not many people are lucky enough to do that."

"What do you want?", Tenchi shouted. 

"Where's Raven?", the man asked. 

"Why are you looking for him?", Tenchi asked. 

"I want to kill him.", the man said, very simply. 

Tenchi extended his light sword and took up a defensive position. The man smiled. 

"Maybe he didn't tell you about me.", he said with sort of a laugh in his voice. 

He held his hand out to his side. Ayeka shook her head. 

"What is he doing, Tenchi?", she asked. 

His hand started to glow. Ayeka's eyes traced the direction of His hand across the room. It was pointed at a large glass tube. Ayeka's eyes widened.

"Oh no!", she gasped. "Tenchi, that's Mayuka's incubation tube!"

"No!", Tenchi shouted. "Don't do it!"

The man's clothing lit up as a flash came from his hand. There was an enormous blast of energy. Tenchi and Ayeka had to shield their eyes from the light. When it finally subsided, they looked over to where the incubation chamber was. That entire half of the room was gone. There wasn't anything left anywhere. 

"Oh, no.", Ayeka cried. 

Tears began to stream down Tenchi's face. He clenched his teeth and shut his eyes tightly. 

"Why did you have to do that?", Tenchi asked through a tightened jaw. He glared up at the man with rage in his face. "Why did you have to kill my Daughter!"

Energy began to surge through Tenchi's body and he began to transform. His clothing changed to the battle uniform of Jurai and his sword became more powerful. He had drawn up the full power of his light hawk wings. The man narrowed his eyes and pointed his arm toward Tenchi. Tenchi opened the wings in an attempt to shield himself and Ayeka from the coming attack. The man's hand glowed a bright yellow. He fired. The blast hit hard against the light hawk force field. Tenchi struggled against it, trying his hardest to keep his shield up, but it was wearing down against the constant bombardment. Just as his shield was about to give, Ayeka jumped in front of him and put up her force field. The blast ended with a final pulse that filled the room with a blinding light. The light died and Tenchi opened his eyes. Quickly taking in his surroundings, he saw Ayeka lying on the floor. 

"Ayeka!", he cried and kneeled beside her. 

He rolled her onto her back and held her in his arms. She looked up at him with an exhausted look in her eyes. 

"Tenchi.", she moaned. 

"Ayeka.", Tenchi answered. 

"I'm sorry I wasn't stronger.", she said. 

"No.", Tenchi interrupted her. "You did fine. Really."

"Tenchi.", Ayeka said, starting to cry. "I love you."

"It's ok, Ayeka.", Tenchi said. "You're going to be fine."

"Tell me, Tenchi.", she said. "Please. I need to hear it... one last time, Tenchi. Tell me that you love me."

"Ayeka I-"

"Tell me.", she interrupted. "Please."

"I love you, Ayeka.", Tenchi said. "I will always love you. I love you more than anything in the whole world."

Ayeka managed a weak smile before all the muscles in her body relaxed and she fell limp. Tenchi shook his head in defiance to fate. He held her close and tight and began to cry. The man casually lowered to the ground and began to walk toward the door. As he passed Tenchi he spoke without even looking at him. 

"Tell Raven that I've found him.", he said. "I'll be back soon."

"You bastard.", Tenchi said angrily. 

"Don't do it.", the man said, still casually walking toward the door. 

"You'll pay for this.", Tenchi continued. 

"It's not a good idea.", the man warned again.

Tenchi got up and spun around, swinging his fist around in a punch. Faster than Tenchi could see, the man spun around and grabbed Tenchi's wrist. He held his hand up, fingers spread and palm facing toward Tenchi's chest. 

"You just never want to heed my advice do you?", the man said. "You'd better start listening to me before you get someone else killed."

With that, he shot a low level blast from his hand, sending Tenchi through the air and crashing against the wall on the other side of Washu's lab. Then he turned and started out through the door again. Devin and Sasami ran into the living room and stood on either side of the door, wondering what was going on. The man walked right past them without a word. Devin turned to stop him and a pulse wave shot out in a sphere from the man's body, throwing Devin and Sasami across the living room. He continued to walk casually out of the house. 

"Deliver my message, Mr.. Tenchi.", he called back as he left. 

Raven and Ryoko walked out from the woods and started toward the house, holding each other in their arms. Ryoko smiled at Raven. 

"I don't ever want this to end.", she said sweetly. "I want us to be together for the rest of eternity."

"Sounds like a dream.", Raven said. 

Ryoko stopped and turned to Raven. She looked at him with a half way serious, half way happy, loving face. 

"Promise me you'll never leave me.", she said. "Promise me you'll be with me forever."

Raven looked deep into her eyes. They told him that she needed to hear it from him. He smiled at her.

"I promise.", he said. 

Ryoko smiled even wider and sighed with joy. She really couldn't remember when she had ever been this happy. 

"Let's go home.", Raven said.

The two began walking toward the house again. They came to the sliding glass doors and turned to step inside. All the joy of the previous few hours was lost in an instant. Tenchi sat on the couch with his face buried in his hands. Noboyuki stood behind him with his hand on his son's shoulder. They could hear Sasami screaming upstairs in her room. It was as loud as though it were inches away, and her door was closed. Devin would obviously be upstairs with Sasami, and no one knew where Washu was. Raven noticed the absence of the ever present Ayeka by Tenchi's side. Then he saw the door to Washu's lab blackened and lying on the floor. 

"What happened?", Raven asked.

Tenchi looked up at him with sad, red, tired eyes. Immediately Raven understood why Ayeka wasn't there. He grew angry.

"Who did it?", Raven asked with vengeance in his voice. 

"I don't know.", Tenchi said. "But he was looking for you."

Raven shook his head in confusion. "Who would be looking for me?"

"I don't know.", Tenchi said. "But he was really powerful... and he killed-"

"I know.", Raven interrupted. 

"Know, you don't.", Washu said. 

Both Raven and Ryoko turned to see Washu step through a dimensional portal into the living room. 

"Ayeka wasn't the only victim.", she continued. "Tenchi's daughter, Mayuka was also killed in the attack. I'm so sorry, Tenchi. It's all my fault."

"How is it your fault?", Ryoko asked. 

"If I hadn't screwed up the first time we brought her back, I never would have had to put her back in the incubation unit and she wouldn't have been in the lab when he attacked.", Washu explained.

"No, Washu.", Tenchi shook his head. "It isn't your fault. You couldn't have known about any of this. Don't blame yourself. Blame the person responsible for the attack."

"So tell us what he looks like already so we can go after him.", Ryoko said. 

"He had black hair and eyes, and he was about your height, Raven.", Tenchi explained. "And he was wearing the same suit you are."

Raven's eyes narrowed. His expression turned to one of Hatred and every muscle in his body began to tense.

"Pitch.", Raven said. 

Ryoko looked at him with shock in her eyes. He was really here this time. She didn't know if they could handle this one.

"That's not all, Raven.", Washu said.

Everyone looked over at Washu in wonder at what else could possibly go wrong now. 

"Do you remember when I told you there was an energy stream feeding you power?", she asked. 

Raven nodded. 

"Your friend Pitch is the source.", she said. 

"But that's impossible.", Ryoko said. 

"I'm afraid it's true.", Washu continued. "Raven, do you remember anything about your parents?"

"Not much.", Raven said, thinking hard about it. "Every now and then I have a memory flash back of my father."

"You're supposed to have those.", Washu said. "Your father was a great man, correct?"

"Yeah.", Raven said. "At least, I think he was."

"All lies.", Washu said. "The man you remember to be your father was a holographic martial arts instructor. You have flash backs and short memories because they were implanted in your mind."

"What are you telling me, Washu?", Raven asked. 

"You are a bionetic construct, Raven.", Washu said, her words piercing deep into Raven as she spoke them. "You were made. Created in a laboratory. It was a secret experiment conducted by the Galaxy Police and the Science Academy in order to create the perfect warriors. They would then be instated as Galaxy police officers and sent in to deal with the worst of criminals and terrorists. But the administration turned its back on the project and ordered it shut down. By this time, though, there were already two of the warriors in the final stages of construction. The scientist who created them was infuriated at the council for terminating the project and completed the two warriors. He had hoped for revenge but could only adjust one of them. The other one was already complete, but the other one could still be manipulated on a psycological level to become the perfect criminal."

"Pitch.", Raven said. 

"Exactly.", Washu confirmed. "And there's more. You haven't been absolutely certain he was dead before, have you?"

"Yeah.", Raven said.

"Pitch cannot die,", Washu explained. "unless you die, Raven. You two are connected in such a way that you feed each other's energy. That's why you were weakened when you arrived. You were bringing Pitch back to life. And that's why you're at your full strength now. Because he's fully recovered and his energy helped yours recover from assisting in his reanimation."

"So, Pitch is-", Raven started. "-my brother."

"That's right, Raven.", Washu said. "Do you think you can still face him, knowing he's your brother."

Raven looked up with a what are you an idiot look. "There's no problem there."

"Then we'd all better get ready.", Washu said. "It's gonna take all of us to defeat him."

Sasami sat curled up in the corner of her room with her knees pulled up to her chest and her hands together with locked fingers holding them in place. The moonlight shone on her from her window shedding the only light in the room. Her face was red and tears streamed down her cheeks. She sniffled a little, staring off into nothing. She could hear Devin talking to Tenchi in the hallway. Tenchi had explained the whole thing to Devin.

"Right.", Devin said. "I understand. I'll be down in a few minutes."

"Ok.", Tenchi said.

Devin walked back into the room. Sasami didn't look up at all. He went over and kneeled down in front of her. He put his hands on her's and looked into her distant gazing eyes. He was about to tell her what was going on when she spoke.

"I heard everything.", she said, her voice filled with evidence of her crying spree earlier. "I'm going too."

"What do you plan to do when you get there?", Devin asked with a serious tone. "Are you going to fight him? Try to kill him, maybe? How, Sasami? How would you fight him?" 

Sasami didn't answer. She stayed silent and still. She looked as though she were in a trance.

"Sweet heart, I can't even fight this guy.", Devin continued. 

"But you're going anyway, right?", Sasami asked.

"I have to.", Devin said.

"Then so do I.", Sasami insisted.

"No, Sasami!", Devin ordered. "Look-"

Sasami looked up at him, wonder in her eyes. He had never sounded angry toward her. 

"Sasami.", Devin started, a little calmer. "Pitch is very dangerous. About a million times more dangerous than Kaelan was, and I barely survived him."

"Are you saying you're gonna-", she couldn't finish the last word.

Devin understood though. "Almost definitely.", he said. "But that's not what I'm afraid of."

"Then what?", Sasami asked with wonder in her voice. "What are you so scared of?"

Devin stood up and turned away from her. He could barely stand to even think about it. He had to think of a way to rephrase it in his mind, he just couldn't say it out loud. He shook his head and turned back to her.

"Sasami, I want you to be safe.", he said. "I am so terrified that something might happen to you."

Sasami almost started crying again. Her eyes filled up with tears. She stood up quickly and stared up at him with a demanding yet still very upset face.

"Don't you see?", she shouted. "I feel the same about you! And I can't just let you go without me! If I let you go without even being able to say goodbye, I would never forgive myself."

"But, Sasami-", Devin started. He stopped when he saw her look down at the floor. 

Her facial muscles loosened up and her eyes gently closed as she became suddenly very serious. 

"Raven once told me that it's a natural thing to want to protect the one you love.", she said. She looked back up at him. "I love you, Devin, and I always will. That is why I have to go with you. I don't know how I would be able to protect you from him, but I have to try. You can't tell me you don't understand that."

Devin stood there, his eyes locked with hers. He understood. She accepted it when he went off to fight Kaelan without a chance of making it back alive. He did that for a lot of reasons, but mostly to protect her. He knew exactly what she was talking about. His eyes gazed down at the floor and he sighed. Sasami waited for some kind response. He closed his eyes.

"I understand.", he said, holding back his tears. 

He opened his eyes in time to see Sasami standing close to him, their faces inches apart. She leaned into him and they kissed. 

Tenchi walked downstairs into the living room where Washu was waiting for him. He looked up and saw her standing at the foot of the stairs. 

"Is Sasami ok?", she asked. 

Tenchi reached the bottom step and stood in front of Washu. He shook his head. 

"I didn't hear anything in her room when Devin came out.", he said. "Devin said she'd be ok and that she just needed some time, but I'm not so sure. I mean, as bad as I'm feeling, she must be feeling the same if not worse."

"You must be feeling pretty bad right now, don't you?", she asked. "You just lost a girlfriend and a daughter."

"And Sasami just lost a best friend and a sister.", Tenchi shook his head. "I don't know who's lost the most to this guy in this family."

"Let's not forget lord Katsuhito.", Washu said. "Pitch is responsible for that as well. He's the one who sent Neko."

"Devin lost his friends and his father.", Tenchi said. "I wonder what Raven lost."

"Taesia.", Ryoko's voice joined in. 

Tenchi and Washu looked up to the rafters where they saw Ryoko. She was sitting with her back against one of the support beams, her eyes staring into space as though she were envisioning something in her mind. 

"What's Taesia?", Tenchi asked. 

"Do you know what you are to me, Tenchi?", Ryoko asked. 

"Um. I-", Tenchi started. 

"You are the person who gave me a reason to love- anything.", Ryoko said. "The light in my heart. My dearest love. That's who Taesia was to Raven. They were going to get married, but the night he was going to propose, Pitch showed up. That's why Raven took his walk. He couldn't handle life as a Dove anymore, so he left to find Pitch and fight him for the last time, not caring if he made it out alive. Now I'm sure he wishes he had stayed on that exploding planet with him. Then he never would have met me, and he wouldn't have had a reason to live before he went off to his death."

"I see.", Tenchi said. 

"And now it's my turn to lose.", Ryoko said.

"I'm sorry, little Ryoko.", Washu said. "I didn't mean for any of this."

"It isn't your fault, Washu.", Ryoko said.

"So what are we going to do?", Tenchi asked.

"Well, you both are going to have to use the full strength of your light hawk abilities.", Washu said. "Do you think you can stay focused this time, Ryoko?"

"I can do it.", Ryoko said. "Raven's taught me a lot since Neko."

"But will you, little Ryoko?", Washu asked. "Will you fight with everything you've got, knowing the outcome of the fight if you succeed?"

"It has to be done, one way or the other.", Ryoko said. "And I plan on making Pitch hurt as much as I can for all that he's done, and for what he's going to do to me. To Raven."

Raven walked into his outside house and shut the door. He flipped on the light switch and as soon as the light came on, a blast of electricity surged through the air, and the light bulb exploded. Raven looked up, surprised, but couldn't see anything, yet, in the dark. Then he heard an all too familiar voice.

"This is quite a courageous household you've made your way into, Sean.", Pitch said. "Raven."

Raven's eyes began to adjust and he was soon able to discern a dark, shadowy figure sitting on a counter top at the other side of the room. 

"Eric.", Raven said angrily.

"That's right. I'm alive.", Pitch said. "I'm not sure how, but whatever it is, I like it."

"Don't get too used to it.", Raven said. "It won't last long."

"Oh, Sean, come on.", Pitch said. "Really. You couldn't kill me when you vaporized an entire planet with me on it. What makes you think you're really going to be able to do it this time?"

"I'm just determined I guess.", Raven said. "And do me a favor."

"What's that?", Pitch said. 

"Stop calling me by my name, ass hole.", Raven said. 

"Right.", Pitch smiled. "I forgot, you always kept your name a secret. I can't imagine why, but I'll give you that courtesy. And while we're at it-"

"Yeah?", Raven asked.

"My name is Pitch, bitch.", Pitch said.

"Fine, now get out of my house.", Raven said. "The school bell hasn't rung yet and this sure as hell isn't the parking lot."

"It looks like something you would live in.", Pitch said. "How long did it take you to build?"

With that Pitch stood up. His body began to surge with energy and he lifted off the ground. Raven screamed with fury and jumped over his bed and toward Pitch with his leg extended in a flying side kick. Pitch dodged to the side and Raven jumped off of the wall in a flying spin kick, following Pitch with the attack. Pitch flew backward and out of Raven's range. Bolts of energy began to spark from Pitch's body, leaving blackened marks on the wooden floor, ceiling, and walls of Raven's house. Raven took a step back. Pitch smiled. 

"I'm leaving you with a going away present until we fight!", Pitch shouted over the noise of all the energy. "But I wouldn't want you to die before we get to the main event, so here's a door."

Pitch lifted his arm and pointed it toward the wall beside Raven. A blast of energy shot from his hand, blowing a hole in the wall. Raven turned and ran out of the house just as it exploded behind him. The shock wave hit him and carried him several feet through the air. He landed in a hard roll, sliding across the grass and finally coming to a stop. 

"I'll give you until tomorrow night at this time to prepare!", Pitch shouted. "Make this fight a good one, Raven! I want it to be our last!"

He rolled over onto his chest and looked up in time to see Pitch lift off high into the air, as though he were standing on a moving platform, facing him and waving a taunting good bye, and fly off backwards, still waving until he disappeared over the trees. 

Ryoko appeared outside the glass sliding doors. She saw Raven on the ground a few feet away from her and flew to him. 

"Raven, are you ok?", she asked. 

"He's giving us until tomorrow night to prepare.", Raven said, being helped up by Ryoko. 

Washu listened from inside the doors. Her eyes narrowed at the sound of this and she disappeared into her lab.

The moon shone over the Masaki house. It was beautiful. Raven sat on the rooftop, looking up at the stars. He sighed, and thought of nothing. Ryoko phased through the roof and was caught by surprise when she saw Raven. 

"Hey.", she reprimanded. "This is my place to be alone."

Raven turned to see her standing a few feet away. He smiled a little, and shrugged. 

"I'm sorry, Ryoko.", he said. "I was just looking up at the stars. It's the last time I'll be able to look at them, you know. And beside's I don't have anywhere to sleep now that my house is gone."

Ryoko blinked, a little bit shocked by his reaction. She floated over and sat down on the edge of the roof beside him. 

"How can you be so calm and even joking about all this?", she asked.

"Ryoko, I'm not going to spend my last hours in life being depressed.", he said. 

Ryoko sighed. She understood what he meant. She wouldn't want to live her last moments, being upset. She smiled a little bit. It felt strange in the middle of all this sadness and anxiety, but she did it anyway. 

"You call that a house?", she laughed. "Hell, it only had one room."

Raven looked at her and smiled. He looked back up at the stars. 

"Well, it worked for me.", Raven said. "The damn thing certainly took long enough to build."

"Well, you know, you could always spend your last night with me.", she said.

"I don't know, Ryoko.", Raven shook his head. "I don't think I'll be able to sleep very well tonight."

"Well, who said anything about sleeping?", she said with a mischievous voice. 

Raven laughed a little. "That's one way to be inviting.", he smiled. Then he shook his head. "But I-"

"Raven?", she cut him off.

He looked over at her and realized that she had said it mischievously so she could pretend she was happy. But she couldn't hide it anymore. Her eyes were begging him without her even saying anything. 

"Please,", she said, pleadingly. "be with me on your last night."

He looked into her eyes, and listened to what his heart told him. Then he nodded. 

Devin lay in Sasami's bed, the beautiful little girl in his arms with her back to his chest. She was still wearing the same thing she had been wearing all day. She had been too tired and upset to change into her night gown. Devin hadn't had time to change into anything either. He even still had his boots on. Sasami looked out at the moon through her window. Devin was watching it as well. He leaned his face closer and kissed Sasami's head. She sighed.

"Devin, what do you think Raven and Ryoko are doing right now?", she asked. 

"I don't know.", he said. 

"I think I do.", she said. Then she paused for a second, anxiously thinking of what she was going to say. "And I think I wanna do it too."

Devin looked at her, surprised at what she had said. She rolled over to face him and looked into his eyes. 

"I want...to make love to you, Devin.", she said.

"Sasami.", Devin said with surprise. 

"I really love you and I want tonight to be really special because I might never see you again.", she said. 

Devin loosened up and smiled at her. He shook his head and kissed her forehead. 

"Sasami.", he said. "I love you too. But the future's not set, and I will do my best to come out of that fight tomorrow. Remember, I still have you to come home to. You don't need to do that to make the night special. Right now I have the most beautiful girl in the whole universe in my arms, and she's going to stay there for the rest of the night. I think that makes tonight the most special night I've ever had."

Sasami smiled. "Yeah. You're right."

Tenchi sat up in his bed, alone in his room for the first time in a long time. It felt unusually lonely. It felt impossible, like it had all been a dream and Ayeka would walk in at any moment, smiling at him like she did every night. He thought about it for a moment and he could feel his throat getting tight. He tried to fight it at first, but then he realized he was alone at let it go. He burst into tears, holding a picture of Ayeka up to his face. He pulled it away to look at it.

"Oh no.", he said through his crying. "I got your picture all wet, Ayeka."

He quickly wiped his tears off of the picture, held it up to examine it, making sure it was ok. Then he held it to his heart and began to cry again. 

Noboyuki opened his drawer and looked down into it. He moved his shirts aside and stared down at his .45 Smith and Wesson revolver. He picked it up and dusted it off, picking up the ammunition and putting it in the chambers. 

"Well, Achika, I may be joining you soon.", he said. "I never thought I'd ever really have to use this thing, but at least I'll be coming to you defending our son."

Washu sat in her lab, working as hard as she ever had. She had three lap tops in front of her and was alternating typing on each one. 

"My lab's pretty messed up, so this is gonna be a little harder than it normally would.", she said to herself. "But I hope I can get this done before the fight tomorrow."

Ryoko's eyes opened slowly. She wasn't fully awake yet and she had nothing on her mind at all. Not even a thought. Not even the acknowledgment of the fact that she was awake. The she snapped back into reality, remembering everything in a flash of what was happening. She no longer felt the warmth of Raven's body holding her close. She quickly sat up in her bed and looked at the empty space beside her where Raven was the night before. 

"Raven?", she said softly. "Raven!"

She grew afraid and frantic, getting out of bed and searching for him in a panic. "Raven!", she called out. Her heart beat was racing and she was filled with fear and adrenaline. She felt desperate and helpless. She ran to the window and peered out. Her eyes scanned the scenery quickly and desperately. Finally, she saw him standing out by the lake, looking out at it as though it were the most peaceful thing in the universe. Her heart slowed and she dropped wearily to her knees. 

"I shouldn't be getting myself so worked up this early in the morning.", she moaned, more upset than she wanted herself to believe. 

Her ears perked up as she heard a knock at her door. She got to her feet and floated over to it, opening it as she reached it. Sasami looked up at her from the hallway. She wasn't her cheery self this morning, but waking up and remembering that your sister died yesterday would do that to just about anyone's day. Still, she attempted a smile and handed Ryoko a brown paper bag. 

"You overslept again, Ryoko, and you missed breakfast.", Sasami said. "So I made you something special to take with you if you go out anywhere. It'll give you lots of energy."

"Where am I gonna go, Sasami?", Ryoko moaned. 

"Devin said something about taking you and Tenchi out and teaching you how to fight together so you can work together tonight.", Sasami said. "He's out with Tenchi now. They're sparring in the woods. You should meet them there."

Ryoko appeared beside Raven by the lake. They both looked out on the water for a quiet moment. Then Ryoko stepped in front of Raven and looked him in the eyes. They wrapped their arms around each other and she melted into him, holding him firmly yet gently. She let out a soft moan, enjoying the feeling of being held. It felt warm like a blanket and cozy like a massage. It relaxed all her muscles.

"I love you so much.", she said.

"I love you too, Ryoko.", Raven replied. 

They loosened their holds on each other and Ryoko backed away, just enough to where they could see each other. 

"Shouldn't you be practicing or something?", she asked. 

Raven shook his head. "I'm as ready as I'm going to be.", he said. "I might as well get as much sight seeing in as I can."

"I want to stay with you, Raven.", she said, trying to sound convincing. "But I have to go train with Devin and Tenchi."

"I know.", he said. "Devin and I already talked about it."

"It won't be the same without you there teaching me.", she said. 

"It wouldn't be the same anyway.", Raven said.

"Listen.", she looked into his eyes. "I want you to let us do the fighting in the beginning. Let us wear him down a little so you'll have an easier time beating him in the end."

"Trust me, you won't wear him down very much.", Raven said.

"At least it's something, damn it.", she said forcefully. "And we've all got scores to settle with this guy. We may not be able to kill him ourselves, but at least let us take him as far as we can."

Raven understood exactly what Ryoko was talking about. He felt the same way about him. He nodded in agreement.

Devin kicked off of a tree, sending himself hurling toward Tenchi, his sword drawn back and ready to strike. Tenchi ran at him, his sword ready also. Just as the two were about to clash swords, Devin flipped over Tenchi. Tenchi was already in mid swing and used the momentum of his sword to spin him around, just in time to block Devin's sword. Tenchi fell backward under the force of Devin's blow and landed on his back. Devin went to swing his sword down across Tenchi's body. Tenchi brought himself into a backward somersault that led to a handstand. On his way up to the handstand he pushed hard with his arms, sending him off of the ground just as Devin's sword slashed the ground beneath him, and the end result was a backward flip from a laying position as he landed on his feet. Devin came at him, bringing his sword up and across. Tenchi jumped back and kicked off of a tree behind him, flipping over Devin. Devin twisted and threw his sword at Tenchi's back just as he landed. Tenchi reversed his grip on the sword so the blade extended from the pinky side of his hand instead of the thumb side and swung it back as though he were stabbing someone behind him. His sword collided with Devin's just before it reached him, and knocked it aside. 

"Very good, Tenchi.", Devin said. "You've got it down perfectly."

Tenchi straightened out and turned back toward Devin. He retracted his sword and bowed. 

"That's a very nice move you showed me.", Tenchi said.

"I can't take all the credit.", Devin said. "I learned it from Raven."

"I wonder how he's handling all this.", Tenchi said. 

"He's probably preparing to die.", a voice came out from somewhere in the forest.

Tenchi turned to look in the direction the voice had come from, as did Devin. They were surprised when Pitch walked out from behind a tree. He was calm and casual as he normally was, and smiled a mischievous smile at them as he walked toward them. 

"Pitch.", Tenchi said. 

"At your service.", Pitch bowed elegantly. 

"What can we do for you, Pitch?", Devin asked. "The fight's not until tonight."

"Who do you think made that rule?", Pitch smiled. Then turned back to Tenchi. "Are you really planning on participating tonight?"

"I'm not the only one.", Tenchi said.

"Then you'd better learn some better moves than that.", Pitch said. "How about I show you a few?"

"I don't have time for your tricks, Pitch.", Tenchi said. "So why don't you just leave?"

"You are obviously used to dealing with enemies that are too weak to have a sense of honor.", Pitch said. 

"What do you know about honor?", Tenchi shot back.

"Ok, you're right.", Pitch said. "But I do want to help you prepare for tonight. I want this fight to be good. It's going to be the last satisfying fight I'll ever have. No one has ever been as much a match for me as Raven. And now I get to face him and his friends. So you can see how I would want to make it as interesting as possible."

"Well, you'll just have to wait.", Tenchi said. 

Pitch stared at Tenchi silently, not moving, not losing his smile. Tenchi stared back in defiance. Pitch gave a soft laugh and widened his smile. 

"Ok.", he said. "But be warned, I won't be as friendly tonight as I was when I was just making a house call."

Pitch turned and walked away. Ryoko appeared beside Tenchi just in time to see Pitch disappear into the trees. She looked inquisitively at Tenchi. 

"Was that-", she started. 

"Pitch.", Tenchi finished. "He was just passing through."

"Ok.", Devin said. "Now we don't have much time so let's get started."

Sasami walked over and stood beside Raven. Raven glanced over at her, then turned his gaze back toward the water. 

"So, I guess you're coming out with us tonight?", he said. 

"Uh huh.", Sasami nodded. "Since my sister isn't around anymore, the guardians belong to me now. So I can use them if I need them."

"Is there anything else you can do?", Raven asked.

"Not really.", she said. "I can throw stuff at him."

Raven smiled. "I don't think that's gonna do much good, Sasami."

Sasami smiled and shrugged. "It's worth a shot."

Raven turned serious and looked into Sasami's eyes. She looked up at him and wondered what he was about to say. 

"Sasami, are you sure you want to take part in killing someone?", he asked. 

Sasami shook her head. "I don't wanna hurt anyone, Raven. I don't want anyone to get hurt at all. But that doesn't mean it isn't going to happen."

Raven sighed and looked back out at the lake. He sat down in the grass and Sasami sat with him. 

"I guess that's another reason Devin likes you so much.", Raven said. "You always see the simple truth and don't cloud it with anything like excuses or what you think it should be. That's a trait every Black Dove should have. It helps us be decisive in strenuous times. It also seems to make us look emotionless sometimes. But that isn't the case."

"Sounds like the life of a Black Dove is hard.", Sasami said. 

"Well, every way of life has goods and bads.", Raven said. "It's also very rewarding and a lot of times even fun to be a Dove. And not to mention you feel like you're with family when you're around other Doves. I loved being a Dove."

"So why'd you quit.", Sasami asked.

"It was because I was a Black Dove that Pitch started chasing me and killed my dearest love, Taesia.", Raven said. "I couldn't go on knowing that being who I was had taken her life from her, and being a Dove reminded me every second of every day. So I walked. And I went on to face Pitch for the last time. When I succeeded, I went back to Dove station for repairs. That's when I found Neko's handy work. And that's when I came here."

"That's a really sad story.", Sasami said. 

"Life is full of them.", Raven said.

Raven and Sasami sat quietly, looking out at the lake. Ryo Ohki hopped over beside Sasami. She looked up at Sasami and meowed. Sasami looked over at her.

"Ryo Ohki.", Sasami said. "I guess you're coming too, huh?"

"Meow.", Ryo Ohki said.

"Well, be careful, ok?", Sasami asked. 

"Meow."

The sun began to go down. By this time, Raven was looking out at the sunset alone. He sighed and turned around, starting off toward the house. 

Dinner was quiet. Everyone took their food and ate without saying a word. Some of them didn't even look up at anyone throughout the entire meal. Ryoko played with her food a little, not having fun with it, just not eating it either. She couldn't help but think, no matter how the fight turned out, this would be Raven's last meal."

Washu worked fervently in her lab. She wiped the sweat off of her forehead and kept working. She had been working on this project since last night, and she was running out of time. She heard a knock on the door. Tenchi opened the door and leaned in.

"Washu, it's time.", he said. 

"Aaah! I'm not ready!", she said. "I need more time!"

Everyone gathered outside the house. They checked themselves over one last time to make sure they were ready. Then suddenly they heard a loud noise from somewhere in the woods. They looked to see a giant light shining from off in the trees. It shot straight into the air like the earth was shooting at something in the sky. When it died down Raven instructed Ryoko to get a look at what had just happened. She nodded and shot straight up into the air. From there she looked down into the woods. She could see a gigantic circular clearing where there were once trees. 

"Well, I guess that's where we're going.", Raven said when he heard Ryoko's report. "Let's get going."

The group started off toward the clearing. Ryoko flew above everyone, acting as a scout to make sure nothing would surprise them. But she never had to alert them to anything. The walk was the easiest part of the night. When they all reached the circle in the trees they stopped at the edge and collected themselves. Ryoko landed beside Raven. 

"Well, it doesn't look like he's here.", she said. 

"He'll show.", Raven said. "This is where he wants us. We just have to wait. Now remember, Ryoko, Tenchi, this isn't an energy contest. If you try to over power him, he will beat you hands down. Fight strategically and look for openings you can exploit."

"Welcome, Raven!", Pitch shouted down from above. "I hope you like our arena."

Everyone looked up at him as he began to descend into the center of the circle. He landed and smiled at the group. He looked them over one by one to see who he would be killing tonight. He glanced over Raven, Washu, Tenchi, Ryoko, Noboyuki, Ryo Ohki, Azaka, Kamidake, Devin. Then his eyes came over Sasami and he lost his smile. 

"You're not fighting, are you?", he asked.

"You bet I am!", she shouted.

Pitch's smile returned. He shook his head and spoke in a jovial tone. 

"You'd better keep this one out of the way.", he said. "I'm not taking it easy on anyone tonight."

Washu sat in her floating chair, continuing her work, struggling to get it finished. Raven stepped forward. 

"Tenchi, Ryoko, power up.", Raven commanded.

Tenchi and Ryoko stepped forward and in a flash of light and energy, transformed. They now wore their battle uniforms and had their light hawk swords out. Pitch smiled wickedly and took a step back, launching an energy blast from each hand. The blasts slammed into Tenchi and Ryoko's light hawk shields and exploded into a bright light. Through the light he could see Raven emerge, full sprint. He brought his guard and prepared for Raven's attack. Raven leaped into the air and swung his leg around for a kick to Pitch's legs. Pitch aimed the palm of his hand at Raven's kick and, with a flash of energy, blocked it without even touching it. Pitch's face was serious now. Raven regained his footing and swung a punch, blocked by another shock wave from Pitch's other hand. Then he threw another punch around the other side. Pitch blocked this and countered with a blast of energy toward the center of Raven's body. Raven turned his body to the side, letting the blast go by him, and continued to turn, swinging his leg up behind him and kicking Pitch in the face without even looking. The kick sent Pitch flipping backward, but he put his hand down on the ground in mid flip and regained his balance, finishing the flip and bringing his feet safely to the ground. He looked up angrily at Raven who stood ready. Out of the corner of his eye he caught some movement to both sides. He looked to see Ryoko coming in from one side and Tenchi from the other. The way Pitch's mind worked, he started with the most dangerous and worked his way down. In this case he perceived Ryoko to be the bigger threat. He turned his upper body toward Ryoko, launching a huge blast of energy at her, and twisted back toward Tenchi, kicking off into a head on sprint. 

Ryoko's eyes widened with surprise and she instinctively threw her hands in front of her, generating a spherical force field with the power of the light hawk. The blast hit her shield and she screamed as she struggled with every ounce of strength she had to pull the energy into the shield and channel it in a circle around her and throw it back, like she did when Raven blasted at her when Devin arrived. It worked.

Pitch flew toward Tenchi and fired an energy blast from both hands. Tenchi stayed his course and sliced at the energy blast with his light hawk sword. The blast was cut in two and flew to either side of him. Pitch's eyes widened and he moved to the side, dodging Tenchi's sword as he brought it back at him. Pitch grabbed Tenchi's wrist as it passed him and pulled himself into Tenchi with a powerful kick to the ribs, sending Tenchi flying backwards into a tree at the edge of the circle. Pitch sensed something powerful coming his way and turned around to see his own blast coming back at him from Ryoko. He jumped back and threw an even more powerful blast at it, completely enveloping and destroying it, and sending the explosion Ryoko's way. Ryoko was knocked to the ground by the shock wave. Before Tenchi knew it, Pitch was right up in his face. Pitch was about to strike when he heard a loud bang. A bullet collided with a force field Pitch had put up just in time to stop it, and vaporized. He turned his head toward the shooter. Noboyuki stood several yards away. 

"Leave my son alone.", Noboyuki said. 

Pitch grew angry. He tossed Tenchi aside like nothing and approached Noboyuki. 

"Now you stay back.", Noboyuki ordered. 

Pitch continued to walk toward him. Noboyuki fired again. The bullet collided with the force field. He fired the rest of his shots. All but the last one hit the force field. The last Pitch caught and threw to the ground. Both Raven and Devin tried to come to Noboyuki's rescue, but an enormous shock wave blasted back from Pitch, sending them flying back the way they came. Noboyuki took a few steps back. Pitch reached out and grabbed him by the shirt. He pulled him to his face and looked dead into his eyes. 

"You used a gun on me?", Pitch growled at him.

Pitch threw Noboyuki against a tree and approached him again, picking him up by the shirt and holding him against the tree. 

"You are both an idiot and a coward, little man.", Pitch insulted. "Idiots don't deserve to live in this universe with the rest of us, and I don't act too friendly to cowards. You just don't seem to be on the right end of anything, do you?"

Pitch reached his fist back and punched it through Noboyuki's chest and half way trough the tree he was against. Noboyuki jerked one last time and went stiff. Tenchi went crazy at the sight of this. He stood and began to scream. Raven noticed this.

"Tenchi no!", Raven shouted, but Tenchi wasn't listening. 

"You'll pay for that!", Tenchi shouted and channeled all of his energy into a single blast. 

The blast lit up the whole night sky as though it were day and shot through the air toward Pitch. It was huge and impossibly powerful, fueled by a rage that Tenchi had never known in his life. Pitch looked over at it coming for him. With one hand still buried in Noboyuki and the tree, he reached his other hand out and fired a blast at least twice as big and powerful as the one coming for him. The blasts collided, but it was a one sided battle, and Pitch's shot swallowed Tenchi's and continued toward him. Tenchi screamed in horror as he saw the white light of death coming for him. Just as it was about to hit, Tenchi felt something wrap around his waist and pull him out of the way. The blast plowed through the forest, clearing out a blackened path big enough to put an eight lane highway in and too far to see the end from there. Ryoko put Tenchi down and stood ready for another attack. 

Just as they were about to do something, Ryo Ohki meowed and began to transform into a giant, pink robot. Pitch looked at it curiously, and pulled his fist out of Noboyuki. Noboyuki fell to the ground. Pitch turned to face this strange new threat. Ryo Ohki stepped forward and several panels with missile silos opened up and he fired a barrage of missiles at Pitch. Pitch ran at Ryo Ohki, dodging the missiles effortlessly as he went. When he cleared the barrage, he fired a shock wave from his hand, knocking Ryo Ohki back into the tree line. 

"Ryo Ohki!", Sasami cried. 

Pitch was about to send a finishing blast when a sudden flash of light came upon him from above. Everyone looked up to see Kiyone and Mihoshi's space ship hovering above them. 

"Don't move!", Kiyone's voice rang in over the loud speakers. "You're under arrest for the charge of murder of the entire Galaxy police fleet! If you attempt to escape we will be forced to fire on you!"

Pitch smiled. "What if I don't try to escape?", he laughed. "What if I decide to kill you instead?"

With that, Pitch lifted off and became airborne. The ship turned toward him and fired laser cannons. Pitch laughed with joy and excitement as he began to dodge the blasts in the air. 

"You don't know what you're in for!", he shouted. 

He fired a blast at their rear engines and the ship began to spin out of control. He turned to follow, but his attention was caught by a laser blast that streamed past his face from behind. Ryo Ohki had become a space ship and was firing blast after blast. Pitch launched another blast. Ryo Ohki dodged to the side. Pitch smiled. 

"Oh, so you've got some moves of your own. Well, this should be fun."

Pitch took off and Ryo Ohki gave chase, firing a constant barrage of lasers. Pitch weaved through the blasts, firing back every couple of seconds. He was having unbelievable fun. Ryo Ohki dodged blast after blast as he followed and fired. Finally, Pitch had had enough. He turned to face Ryo Ohki and fired a very precise blast, but it was shot out of the air from below. Surprised, he looked down to see where it had come from. As soon as he looked, Ryoko was in his face. She swooped up from below and fired a blast in Pitch's face as she flew up and over him, barely escaping a collision by inches. The blast sent Pitch flipping backwards through the air. He regained his balance and found her in the sky. She was circling around for another attack. Another laser came at him from Ryo Ohki. He heard it coming and moved just in time. Ryoko started firing a constant shower of blasts at him from one side and Ryo Ohki did the same from the other side. Pitch took off flying. They were all flying side by side with the exception of the great distance between them. 

Pitch flew fast, with blasts coming in from both his right and his left. Surrounded by blasts everywhere as though he was in a war zone, he began to dodge as quickly as he could, sparing no space between him and each blast so he wouldn't dodge one shot and fly into another one in the process. Every now and then he would return fire as he weaved through the shots. Finally, Ryo Ohki was hit and spiralled to the ground. Now it was just him and Ryoko. He turned and changed course, flying directly for her. She turned and began to run. Pitch began to fire shots from his hands like machine guns. Ryoko's training in dogfighting kicked in and she dove. Pitch followed, still firing. Ryoko came inches from the treetops, which in this case served as the ground, and pulled up, flying low and tight to the ground. Pitch fired down at her from behind and above, but couldn't get a good shot at her. Ryoko turned her head to see the blast impacts behind her. They suddenly began to catch up really fast. She pulled to the side and let them go by. Once they were in front of her, they slowed down and she dodged to the side again, getting ahead of them again. She turned her palms up and fired random shots up into the air, hoping to hit him with at least one. She banked right and Pitch followed. She led him back to the arena. When she came over the clearing, she dove again and hugged the ground as she made for the tree line. Pitch stopped alternating hands and fired with both hands simultaneously. This time the blasts were stronger and they were getting closer to Ryoko. At the last second, she made it into the forest and the last of Pitch's shots crashed into the trees behind her. He landed and turned to face the group. Just as he had them in his sight, he quickly leaned backward and a plasma blast streamed past his face from the side. He looked to see who had been using another gun when he heard something coming from the other side. He ducked under another shot, missing it by inches, and turned to see something like a yo-yo with a really long string being thrown at his legs by Kiyone. He jumped toward Mihoshi, who had the gun, over the string and another blast from Mihoshi, and fired a blast at Mihoshi, knocking her into the tree line. He turned back toward Kiyone as soon as he kit the ground and kicked off into an immediate leap toward her. He fired two shots on either side of her, but she stood still and they passed beside her. Immediately she dove to the side as a third blast came straight down the center toward her face. A fourth blast hit her while she was on the ground. Pitch landed and became calm. He was no longer smiling as he straightened out his shirt. Then he turned to the group and addressed them. 

"Now that was fun, but I came here to fight Raven. So far, I've been fighting everyone else. I'm tired of it. I'm through playing with you people. I want him."

Devin stepped forward. Pitch narrowed his eyes and became very angry. 

"I told you I'm not playing anymore.", Pitch said. 

"Neither am I.", Devin said. "Your assassin killed my father. He's dead and I didn't get to do it. So now I'm going to take it out on you."

Devin came at him and threw a punch. Pitch's reaction was so fast, no one, not even Devin, could see his movements. They weren't even a blur, they simply could not be seen. Pitch knocked Devin's arm aside, hitting it three more times, and, continuing to move into him, picking four more targets and hitting them very precisely. His throat, stomach, chest over the heart, and finally his face. Then he sweep kicked his legs out from under him and was standing straight before Devin began to fall. Everything Pitch had just done had happened within less than a second, and was so fast, no one saw him move. Devin hit the ground hard and was unconscious. Sasami ran out to Devin. She kneeled down beside him. 

"Devin!", she cried. 

Pitch simply stood there, staring into Raven's eyes, calling him out with his gaze. 

"I told you I wasn't playing anymore.", Pitch said. 

"I hate you!", Sasami shouted. 

She pulled one of the knives from the kitchen out of her dress and swung it at Pitch. Pitch grabbed her wrist and picked her up off of the ground. He looked her in the eyes. 

"Sit down, you little bitch.", he said. 

With that he held his hand up and blasted her with a shock wave that threw her all the way back to the group. She crashed into the ground inches from Raven's feet. 

"DON'T YOU TOUCH HER!", a voice came from the sky. 

Everyone turned to see who it was. Their faces turned to surprise as they saw who it was. Pitch, however, didn't look impressed. His mistake.

"Yugi!", Tenchi shouted in surprise.

"YOU LEAVE MY FRIENDS ALONE!", she shouted at him and fired a bolt of energy at him so suddenly and so powerful that it broke through his force field and knocked the mighty Pitch off his feet and slammed him back down onto the ground. 

Pitch screamed in pain and the blast subsided. 

"I WON'T LET YOU HURT SASAMI ANYMORE!", she shouted. 

She fired another blast. This time Pitch shot back, but Yugi's blast was the more powerful and bore right through his, crashing into him and forcing another scream out of him. Even Raven was surprised by this. He didn't think anyone could overpower Pitch. 

Sasami opened her eyes and looked painfully up at Yugi. She watched as her friend hovered high in the air, furiously channeling unbelievable energy into Pitch. She could hear him screaming. She had never heard screaming quite like that. It was over. It had to be. There was no way that she could think of that this fight would turn around. 

"It isn't enough.", Raven said. 

"What!?!", Sasami said, surprised. 

"It's not enough to kill him.", Raven said. "He'll over power her and recover from it."

Sasami looked into the light where Pitch could be heard but not seen. Then she turned her gaze to Yugi, trying desperately to think of a way to help her friend. 

"Azaka! Kamidake!", she shouted.

"Yes ma'am!", they responded in unison. 

"Help Yugi!", she said. "Give it everything you've got!"

In an instant, Azaka and Kamidake were in the air and beside Yugi. They began to open, bearing all of their strongest energy weapons, and opened fire with everything they had. Ryoko watched from the trees. 

"Well, I'm not just going to stand around and wait for an invitation.", she said, and took off into the air. 

Ryoko flew up and hovered across from Yugi and the guardians, on the other side of Pitch, and channeled up the innermost powers of her light hawk energy, unleashing it with a fury on Pitch. Tenchi took her example and did the same from the ground. Pitch was completely enveloped in the blasts, and could barely be heard screaming anymore over the noise of it all. Raven shook his head. 

"He's pulling out of it.", he said. 

Sasami struggled to think of something else she could do. He was impossibly strong. They were throwing everything they had at him, and he was still coming out of it. Then it dawned on her. She closed her eyes. 

Raven could hear Pitch's screams of pain turn to cries of rage. He knew that Pitch was about to pull out of it and turn the fight back in his favor. It was time that Raven finally faced him down himself. He just hoped that he would be able to beat him this time. As Pitch was about to break loose, Raven noticed something coming into view from the sky. He looked up to see an enormous spaceship descending from above. Sasami began to lift off of the ground and hover, arms out to her sides and eyes close. 

"It's Tsunami!", Washu shouted in awe.

Tsunami began to power up with the ten wings of the light hawk and fired on Pitch with all its force. 

"There's no way he'll be able to withstand that!", Washu continued. 

Raven shook his head. "You don't know Pitch.", he said quietly. 

Pitch could no longer be heard through the blast. The energy being channeled at him was enormous. Everyone was giving it their all, not knowing if they had done it yet, but still going on to be sure. Raven got ready. He knew that if Pitch broke loose, he would be pissed beyond belief. No one would survive it unless he did something. 

Suddenly, Pitch's scream became audible again. He was infuriated. A wave of energy exploded out from where Pitch was, making short work of everyone's attack, and sending them hurtling through the air, landing hard against the ground, except Tsunami of course. The wave dissipated and Pitch stood in the middle of a huge crater, standing tall, strong, and very very pissed. Energy sparked and arched from his body. A look of pure hatred and evil was in his eyes and it ran deeper than his soul. He looked up at Tsunami and began to growl. Tsunami powered up it's weapons again and Pitch's growl turned to a scream of rage. Tsunami fired and Pitch threw his hands up and let loose a blast that completely enveloped Tsunami. Sasami screamed and fell to the ground as Tsunami was shot into space, broken and burning, shattered pieces of metal debris being sent into orbit. Yugi managed to get to her feet and run to Sasami's side. 

"Are you alright, Sasami?", Yugi asked. 

"Yugi.", Sasami moaned. "You're awake."

Raven had never seen Pitch so pissed. Fighting him now was going to be impossible. But knowing that everyone around him would share Tsunami's fate soon, he ran into the fight. 

"Raven!", Pitch shouted. "Fight me yourself!"

"What the hell do you think I'm doing!", Raven shouted as he leaped into the crater. 

Raven landed behind Pitch and the fight began. The two warriors fought in the crater so fast that as soon as it began, they couldn't be seen at all. All that could be seen of the fight was where the crater would become larger under the force of the attacks. One second there would be an impact on one side of the crater, and within the same second there would be another on the other side. The fight lasted forever, or at least it seemed like it. Ryoko managed to stagger to her feet and watch. She stared into the massive hole, hoping to catch a glimmer of what was going on. She wondered how they could keep that kind of movement up for such a long time. She would have died from exhaustion long ago. She was thankful as hell Pitch was just playing with her before. She wouldn't have lasted a second against him like this. Every few seconds, Pitch would fire a blast of energy at Raven, and Raven would dodge it and it would explode into the side of the crater. Finally, Raven slammed into the side of the crater with a boom that echoed for miles through the air and the ground. He hit so hard the ground buckled beneath the force of the impact, cracking and breaking in an ellipse around him. Before he could scream from the pain, Pitch crashed into him with a flying side kick that forced the wind out of him and broke the ground some more. Immediately as the kick connected and Pitch took his foot off of Raven's chest, he fired and energy blast from both hands that collided hard against Raven, disintegrating his shirt and breaking through even more ground. Pitch landed in front of Raven with an enormous smile on his face. He grabbed Raven by the throat and laughed with joy.

"I can't believe this.", Pitch laughed. "I just can't believe this! You impossible son of a bitch, I finally beat you!"

"You beat me a long time ago, Pitch.", Raven struggled to say. "When you took Taesia away from me."

"But that was nowhere near as satisfying as this! Holy shit I can't believe I beat you at last!", Pitch ran the two sentences together as though they were the same one. 

He laughed again, adrenaline running through him from the excitement. Then he regained himself and looked into Raven's eyes.

"Raven, this has been the most rewarding battle I have ever had the pleasure of engaging in.", he said. "And for that I thank you and your friends. I'm really happy it happened this way and I'd just like to tell you that when you're gone, my life will feel unbearably empty. I just thought I'd let you know as sort of a consolation prize. I hope it makes you feel a little better. But now, I have to finish you off so I can go kill that little bitch who made me scream the first time. Good bye."

Pitch brought his hand up and waved a taunting goodbye, then his face became angry and his hand began to light up. 

"Raven!", Ryoko cried as she rocketed toward Pitch to stop him.

"No! Ryoko, Don't!", Raven shouted. 

As soon as Ryoko was in range, Pitch performed a spinning back kick at the speed that he and Raven were just fighting at. The kick connected with the side of Ryoko's face, sending her twirling through the air a few feet back from Pitch. She was hit so hard and spun so fast that she actually stayed in the air for a second before she fell and collapsed on the ground. Raven struggled to regain his strength, but he couldn't break free of Pitch's grip. He watched as Pitch pointed his free hand at Ryoko, who lay face down in the dirt. Pitch smiled. Raven began to get so angry that he was starting to loose it. 

"Well, this will make two now, won't it?", Pitch said. 

"Raven.", Ryoko moaned. "I'm sorry I failed you."

"No.", Raven began to shake his head. 

He flashed back to his dream, holding Taesia as she breathed so fast. Then he returned to reality. 

"I didn't mean to let you down.", Ryoko said. 

"No.", Raven said, not wanting it to happen again. 

He flashed back again. She was shaking all over and tears were streaming down her face. He held her close and tight, feeling every straining breath she took and her speeding heartbeat through his chest.

"I just wanted to help you.", Ryoko said. 

"No.", Raven said a little louder, not wanting to relive it.

Her blood ran warm down his arms and dripped onto the ground. Her breathing grew short and rapid until she was taking in and pushing out so fast that she wasn't actually breathing at all.

"I had to because- because-"

"No.", Raven said, refusing to relive it.

She gripped him tighter, as tight as she could, and tried to speak through the hasty ins and outs that hardly took in or pushed out any air at all. 

"No.", Raven said, reliving it.

"I...love...you.", Ryoko and Taesia's memory said in unison. 

Pitch was about to finish her off with his energy blast, when he felt a new power coming from Raven. 

"NO!", Raven screamed. 

Pitch looked back at Raven just as a blast of power exploded from Raven, knocking Pitch to the ground. A light began to shine from Raven as he began to lift off of the ground. His eyes became a pure white light and the same light shone from his fingertips. Pitch stared up at Raven, a little bit of fear and surprise in his expression. Then the fear faded but the shock remained as the light died and Raven fell to his knees. Pitch stood up but stayed back, looking down at Raven.

"Taesia.", Raven said softly.

There was a flash of lightning, and a roll of thunder filled the air. Then the rain came down, pouring in from the sky, turning the dirt that Raven knelt in and Pitch stood in into mud and dirty puddles. Raven's hands disappeared into the water in moments. 

"Ryoko.", he said softly.

Pitch listened and watched as Raven began to lose control. Washu saw what was happening and stopped her work for a second. 

"I knew it.", she said. "He always had the same kind of power as Pitch, but he never even knew it himself."

"Ryoko.", Raven said louder. 

Energy began to surge through his body and into the water around him. He began to tense up all over and he started to breath heavy then screamed as a burst of white light shot up from his body into the sky and he lifted off again. 

"Taesia!!!", he cried out. 

"He's out of control.", Pitch said to himself. 

Then suddenly, Raven gained control, but he didn't lose his power. He touched down in front of Pitch and grabbed him by the shirt, lifting off again and dangling Pitch from his arm as he hovered. Pitch had fear in his eyes. Raven had never used power like this and yet still always managed to be his match. Now he had the power. The fear disappeared as he remembered he couldn't die. But Raven would soon fix that. Raven had a look in his eyes that said "I'm going to end your life, ass hole, and there's nothing you can do to escape this time because I'm willing to come with you to make sure you stay there".

"Pitch.", Raven said. "Do you want to know why you couldn't die? It's because I wasn't dead. We're linked, you and I. Our energies feed each other and nurse each other back to health. I have to die in order for you to die, and the other way around, because we're brothers, Pitch. We were created by a scientist as brothers and linked in life, death, and strength."

Pitch's eyes grew wide with fear. He had just gotten used to the idea of immortality and he really really liked it. Raven pulled him closer. 

"Now guess what we're going to do together now that we're being reunited, brother.", Raven said. 

The rain stopped falling on them. It didn't really stop. It was falling everywhere except in the circle arena. After a moment, the circle began to fill with white light. The light got brighter around Raven and Pitch. Ryoko rolled onto her back and drearily opened her eyes to look up at Raven for the last time. 

Washu was typing as fast as she could, frantically trying to finish what she was doing. 

"No!", she shouted. "Wait! I've almost got it!"

Ryoko heard this and opened her eyes wide. Her heart beat fast and filled her with the energy to move. She sat up fast and screamed. 

"Raven!!!", she cried. "Please!!! You don't have to die anymore!!! You promised me you'd never leave me, remember!!!"

"I've almost got it!", Washu shouted. "I just need another minute."

A burst of light shone blindingly from Raven and Pitch and a noise like an explosion began to shake the earth. Ryoko was knocked back onto the ground, but refused to shut her eyes. A green light shot from Washu's lap top into the center of the white. Then white light suddenly disappeared and all was still and quiet. 

"Did it work, Washu?", Sasami asked. 

Washu looked down at Sasami, then looked over to Ryoko. Then she dropped her gaze and shook her head. 

"I'm sorry.", she said. 

Ryoko closed her eyes and tears rolled down her face into the mud. She screamed as loud as she could and began to cry. 

The sun hung heavy in the sky, shining bright but not seeming to cut through the gloom of the family's collective mood. It had been a few days since the battle with Pitch, and everyone who hadn't been killed in the fight was recovering. Physically anyway. Emotionally, well, they weren't the happiest bunch on the planet to say the least. 

Yugi sat anxiously on the couch in the living room, waiting for Sasami to get out of the regeneration chamber. She was older than she had been when she attacked the Masaki's. She looked like a young teenager now, and a very beautiful one. Her eyes came to life and she turned around quickly to see Washu's door open and Sasami walk out. 

"Sasami!", Yugi called to her. 

Sasami looked over at her and smiled exhaustedly. "Yugi.", she said. 

Sasami walked over to Yugi and Yugi looked into her eyes. After a short pause, Yugi leaned in and gave Sasami a hug. 

"Are you ok, Sasami?", Yugi asked. 

"I'm ok.", Sasami answered. "Thanks for coming to help us."

"It's the least I could do.", Yugi said.

"There you go.", Washu said. "Good as new."

Tenchi stepped out of the regeneration chamber and stood in front of Washu. 

"On the outside, maybe.", Tenchi said, depressed.

"Your shirt, socks, and shoes are upstairs in the living room.", Washu said. 

"Thanks.", Tenchi nodded. 

Tenchi walked out and into the living room to finish getting dressed. Then Ryoko stepped out of her chamber. She flexed her arm and balled up her fist, releasing it after a second. Washu walked over to her and began to examine her. 

"Hmm.", Washu said. "That's interesting."

"What?", Ryoko asked with very little real interest in her voice.

"Well, I'll have to run some tests and-"

"Forget it.", Ryoko interrupted.

"You don't have to be here for the tests.", Washu said. "I can just take a reading now and check the results when I get a chance."

"Fine.", Ryoko said, giving in. "Do whatever you want."

"Atta girl.", Washu said.

Washu took her reading and Ryoko left. That left Kiyone, Mihoshi, Ryo Ohki, and Devin. She began to walk to their chambers when she heard a voice address her from across the lab. 

"I'm going out.", it said. "I'll be back in a day or two."

"Ok.", she answered. "Hurry back. I think there's something weird going on."

"Ok.", it said. 

Sasami and Yugi sat out in the woods on a big rock in the middle of a flowing stream. They had been talking about everything that had happened since Yugi went to sleep. Yugi looked over at Sasami. 

"I'm glad we're together again.", she said. 

"Me too, Yugi.", Sasami agreed. "I wish my sister could have seen us get to be friends again."

"Me too.", Yugi agreed.

"I think Tenchi misses her as much as I do.", Sasami said. "He's really lonely now. He lost everybody he loved."

Yugi looked at Sasami for a moment. Then she started to smile a little. 

"Hey, Sasami.", she said. "I have an idea."

"Come on, Tenchi!", Sasami shouted as she pulled him along the trail in the forest. "Hurry up!"

"I'm hurrying!", Tenchi said. "What's this all about, Sasami?"

"You'll see!", she said.

Finally, they came to a wide open field at the edge of the woods. In the middle there was a small picnic blanket set up with places set for two. Tenchi looked it over, curious as to what this was all about. 

"Go on.", Sasami said. "Now just wait there, and don't go anywhere."

"Ok.", Tenchi said. 

Sasami ran off and disappeared into the forest. Tenchi scratched his head and walked over to the blanket. He looked over the basket and the plates and things, then he looked around the field. He sighed and sat down. He waited for a while, then his mind began to wander. He thought about how he was supposed to take Ayeka on a picnic like this. He began to get depressed again. He missed her. Now he was just lonely all the time. 

"That's a terrible picture face.", a familiar female voice said. "Smile, Tenchi."

"Huh?", Tenchi looked up to see who it was. 

He was faced with a camera that clicked and whirred. Then she moved the camera from her face and took the picture out of the front slot. She waved it around a little bit and examined it. 

"Well, you're not smiling, but that's ok.", she said. 

"S- Sakuya.", Tenchi said in shock and surprise.

"I think it's perfect for our new photo album, since it's my first picture of you here.", Sakuya smiled. 

"But I thought-", Tenchi started. 

"Yugi brought me back.", Sakuya said. "She wanted to do something to help you after what you did for her."

"Then, you're just an illusion?", Tenchi asked. 

"Nope.", Sakuya said. "I'm real. I've always been real, Tenchi. Just not the way you are."

"So you aren't under Yugi's control?", Tenchi asked.

"No, silly.", Sakuya answered. "I have a mind of my own, and it's just waiting for us to make more new and exciting memories together to fill it with."

Sakuya smiled at Tenchi. Tenchi looked at her, still in shock. Then after a moment, he smiled too.

Everyone was getting back to normal. Tenchi and Sakuya fell in love all over again and were living a happy life together. Sasami and Yugi became best friends again and Yugi got along well with Devin. Devin and Sasami were still a happy couple. Kiyone and Mihoshi got a pay raise for helping to take down the infamous criminal, Pitch, who single handedly destroyed a Galaxy Police fleet. And Washu was constantly working in her lab. The only one who never recovered emotionally was Ryoko. 

Washu opened her door and walked into the living room. She looked up at Ryoko who sat alone and depressed in the rafters. 

"Little Ryoko.", Washu called her down. "I got those results back. I think you should see this."

Ryoko transported down to Washu and stood in front of her. Washu handed her a little hand held computer. Ryoko took it and looked at it. 

"I don't understand any of this.", Ryoko said, frustrated. "What does it say."

"Well, to put it lightly, it says you're gonna be a mom soon.", Washu said. 

Ryoko's eyes widened in shock. She dropped the computer and shook her head. 

"But, that can't be!", she said.

"It sure can.", Washu said. "It looks like you're gonna have a little Raven running around."

Ryoko's shock disappeared and she looked upset. She looked down at her stomach. 

"Well, at least I still have part of you with me, Raven.", she said. "I guess I'll just to take care of him myself."

"I don't know about that. Washu told me about the last time you had to take care of a baby.", a familiar voice said from behind her. "I think you're going to need some help."

Ryoko's eyes widened and she gasped. She slowly turned around to see Raven standing in the doorway to the outside. He smiled at her. 

"But... but you said...Washu-", Ryoko stuttered.

Washu smiled really wide and innocently and began to scratch her head. "Well, it turns out I did finish the process in time.", she said. "I got back to my lab and I found out that he had been transported to the regeneration chamber just in time."

"Raven.", Ryoko said. 

She was speechless. She looked at him with surprise, happiness, sadness, and desperation all in one. He shook his head and walked to her. 

"I know.", he said. "You don't have to say it."

She grabbed him and held him as tightly as she could. Tears rolled down her cheeks. 

"You promised you would never leave me.", she said, crying. 

"I know.", he said. "And now I'll get to keep that promise."

Washu smiled at them and turned to go back to her lab and leave them to each other. 

"Wait a minute, Washu.", Raven said. "I have something to tell you."

Washu stopped and turned back to them. "What is it, Raven?"

"Now don't get mad at Ryoko.", he said. "I know she wasn't supposed to tell anyone, but I know all about what happened with the baby you once had."

"She told you, huh?", Washu asked. "Well, I guess that shouldn't really surprise me. So, what about it?"

"Well, being the first and most renowned Black Dove, I have a lot of friends and connections, who I consulted when I went out for that day or two.", Raven said. "I brought back a visitor who is very anxious to meet you."

"You don't mean-", Washu started. 

"Washu, meet your Daughter.", Raven said. 

A beautiful, reddish pink haired woman walked in from outside. She looked at Washu and Washu's eyes got wide. Tears began to stream down Washu's face. 

"Kerra?", Washu said.

"Mom?", the woman replied.

"Kerra!", Washu ran to her daughter and grabbed her in her arms. 

Washu and her daughter both started to cry and held each other so very tightly. 

"I never thought I'd see you again.", Washu said. 

"I've always wanted to meet you, mom.", Kerra said. 

Washu looked over to Raven. "Thank you so much, Raven."

"Thank you.", Raven said and held Ryoko close.

"Breakfast is ready!", Sasami burst into the room.

Suddenly the Masaki house came alive with commotion. Everyone started to fill into the dining room and voices could be heard from outside. 

"That looks good, Sasami.", Tenchi said. 

"It looks like I'm gonna be eating for two now, Raven.", Ryoko said. "We'd better hurry."

"Yay!", Mihoshi cheered. "I'm hungry!"

"You're always hungry, Mihoshi.", Kiyone said. 

"Come on.", Washu said. "We've got lots to talk about. First thing I want to show you is Sasami's cooking."

"Ok.", Kerra said.

"Wow. We've got a lot of company.", Mihoshi. 

"Good thing I made extra.", Sasami.

Azaka and Kamidake stood on either side of the gate outside listening to the sounds of the busy dining table of the Masaki house.

"Well, it sure sounds like everything's back to normal.", Azaka said.

"Yes, today's going to be another beautiful day on planet Earth.", Kamidake agreed.

This concludes my tribute to Tenchi Muyo known as the Fallen Dove Saga. For those of you who want to know more about it and a possible follow up, read my profile. Thanks for reading. 

Faithfully, Raven.


End file.
